


Dark Sex Series 6: Double Whammee

by spookyawards_archivist



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Series, Threesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-01-17
Updated: 2003-01-17
Packaged: 2019-04-27 05:53:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 40,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14419074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spookyawards_archivist/pseuds/spookyawards_archivist
Summary: Mulder and Scully continue to experiment with having a new partner in the bedroom but an accident changes their priorities.  Sixth story in the Dark Sex Series.





	Dark Sex Series 6: Double Whammee

**Author's Note:**

> Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Spooky Awards](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Spooky_Awards), and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project in 2018. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address on [SpookyAwards' collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/spookyawards/profile).

 

Dark Sex Series 6: Double Whammee

## Dark Sex Series 6: Double Whammee

### by Donnilee
    
    
    TITLE:      Double Whammee
    AUTHOR:     Donnilee
    

WEB SITE: <http://donnilee.tripod.com>  
CATEGORY: MSR - M/Sc/Sk - Sk/Other   
RATING: Extreme NC-17 (Some D/s and Bondage). SPOILERS: None. 

SUMMARY: Mulder and Scully continue to experiment with having a new partner in the bedroom but an accident changes their priorities. Sixth story in the Dark Sex Series. 

DEDICATION: To all the girls on my message board that stalked me for the continuation of this series, including Song, Fmudler, Mims, and others. Thanks for your constant badgering! 

WARNING: This fic contains graphic depictions and descriptions of sex, including BDSM, erotic pain, and D/s scenarios. If this sort of thing bothers you, you might want to read something else. This is a continuation of the Dark Sex Series, which includes: Happy Birthday, Love, B is for Bondage, C is for Courage, Birthday Boy, Bound in Matrimony 

THANKS: I must give thanks to my beta reader, Sdani, once again. I pester her constantly, like she has nothing better to do than read for me! She's wonderful and never complains. Thanks for all your continuing support, for being my harshest critic and my biggest cheerleader. I Love you for it! 

* * *

* * *

**PART 1 (NC-17)**  
**MULDER'S HOUSE**  
**FALLS CHURCH, VA**  
**THURSDAY EVENING - 6:00 PM**

Six days. 

It had been six days since that incredible night and morning when two incredibly sexy men had taken me. My husband, whom I didn't think it was possible to love any more than I did, proved me wrong again. He let another man share our passion and I found myself falling in love with him all over again as he allowed me to experience this new pleasure of having a second bed mate. The second man was my boss, Assistant Director Walter Skinner. 

That's right. The man was like a solid block of bulging muscles and growling arousal. And my favorite muscle of course, was his enormously thick ten-inch cock. He was only the second man to ever give me multiple orgasms and only the second man to ever fuck me till I passed out. 

Mulder and he were so different physically. However, they each had their alluring qualities. Mulder had outgrown the star struck amazement of being able to touch me and fuck me whenever he pleased. This is not to say that he still wasn't in awe of the power of us together. Walter, on the other hand was still amazed that we consented to this union. 

Mulder was the Top in our D/s relationship and he'd slipped into the role with alarming ease. He was muscular but in a lanky, athletic way, and his face could still fascinate me with its odd features that somehow blended into a package of sexual appeal and earnest quirkiness. Walter had the body of a weight lifter; bulky and compact muscles and he was two inches taller than Mulder, truly dwarfing me in the size department. 

Tomorrow. 

He was coming again tomorrow. Just the thought of it had me quivering in anticipation each time I thought of the incredible heights of pleasure these two men had taken me to. I wanted it again. It couldn't happen soon enough. The thought of it had me so worked up that my hands were shaking as I took dinner out of the oven. The ziti casserole was finished and I set it on a hot plate. Mulder would be home any minute. 

I thought back to the beginning and the odd way we entered our alternative lifestyle. Knowing my propensity for rough sex, I was a little fearful of testing the limits. But slowly, Mulder and I had learned to know each other's limits. Many months of trial and error had brought us to a place of comfort. Mulder was definitely the dominant one in this relationship. At work, we are equals, but here ... he was all male and I was all female. It was a welcome respite from the guards and professionalism that I projected with tight control while on the job. 

He policed my desires with a strict eye towards safety and I was free to let go and have someone else at the reins while I indulged my darkest desires. 

Here, I could just be a wife, a woman in love ... just be me. And that was never more apparent than when we were in the bedroom. Tonight was "date night". We chose one night every two weeks to have time together as husband and wife. There was no role-playing, no pet names that we used in D/s play. Just me and him, being us, together in an exciting marriage. 

I was pregnant now, only three months, and not showing yet. He was worried about some of our rougher play and had already mentioned curbing our activities until the baby was born. I had hesitated but only for a second. I realized the wisdom of his decision. It was difficult though, having finally found the sexual freedom, love, and trust to have to rein it in. But as he pointed out, it wasn't as if we were giving anything up for good, just for a while. And returning to it would be all the more exciting. And I was no fool. This baby was a miracle and I would never do anything intentionally endanger it. But I wasn't even showing yet so the danger would be more palpable once I began to have a belly to work around. 

He'd run to the store to get some Parmesan cheese I'd forgotten. I heard his key in the front door and took a deep breath to try and still my quivering nerves. He appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. His dark blue Armani framed his lanky, muscular body, making his shoulders look very broad and his waist very lean. I actually felt the sting of salivation in my mouth. 

I blew air out of pursed lips and he smiled, an amused look on his face. My eyes met his and I saw his widen with recognition. He knew I was aroused. I could feel the heat in my own cheeks, the hot flush on my chest. I whimpered as I felt my womb cringe and my crotch flood with wetness. God, the sight of this man was all it took to make me instantly ready. Ready to be penetrated, impaled; ready to be fucked. 

He set the bag in his hand down carefully on the counter and shrugged out of his jacket, hanging it on the back of the chair. His eyes never left mine as he loosened and removed his tie and slowly unbuttoned his light blue dress shirt, tugging it out of the waistband of his pants. That's what I liked about this man. He never hesitated. Not when it came to intimacy between us. He had this philosophy to grab the opportunities when they presented themselves. Ordinary things like eating and sleeping could always be done later! 

He had said that we wasted too many years denying ourselves intimacy and comfort and he would never hesitate again. Seize the moment was definitely his philosophy when it came to our intimate relationship. Although we'd tamed down our fieldwork quite a bit, only going out on very probable cases, forgetting the weak ones, our jobs were still dangerous. We knew that either one of us could be gone tomorrow. We were acutely aware of that fact. 

I was panting by the time he unbuckled his belt and undid his pants, letting them fall to the floor. He toed off his shoes and bent to retrieve his pants along with his socks. He laid everything carefully over the back of the chair. He hesitated for an instant, but then shoved his boxers down, retrieving them as they fell to his ankles and depositing them with the rest of his clothes on the kitchen chair. 

His arms akimbo, his fists on his lean hips, he watched me, his head tilting slightly to one side. I was fully dressed and he was completely naked. Yet, he was surely the one in control even when we weren't playing. I was still on the fairly submissive side although I was quicker to ask for what I wanted, or to reach for it! I took a tentative step toward him and felt the weakness in my limbs. I looked down and licked my lips at the sight of his erection, standing tall and proud and reaching toward me as though anxious for contact. 

He shook his head slightly and I froze. He hadn't said anything yet. He nodded at me as I raised my hands to my blouse and I knew he wanted me to strip. He nodded again in encouragement as I followed his lead and slowly removed all my clothing. I stood, shivering slightly as his gaze slid over my body. 

* * *

I stared at her, still astonished by how beautiful she was and equally astonished at how quickly she became excited. I liked to think that just the sight of me did it to her but I knew better. We hadn't said much about our adventure last weekend with our boss, but I knew we'd both been thinking about it all week. It was Thursday and we'd made a date for tomorrow night again. We'd wanted the week to think things over and give him a chance to do the same. Tonight was date night. Time to be together, have dinner, and be a loving man and wife, with no play to interfere. It kept us grounded and was probably one of the better decisions we'd made since becoming involved. 

None of us had decided to back out of our arrangement in the week that had followed. So Fridays were going to be the nights we got together with our new ... bedmate? I wasn't exactly sure what to call him. Lover didn't sound right since I wasn't engaging in activities with him, per se. I was letting him share my wife's charms. I just never knew what was going to happen once the gates were open. We chose Fridays mainly because the work week was over, Walter could spend the night, and none of us had to go to work Saturday unless there was an emergency or we were away on a case. I knew Scully couldn't wait. 

I was amazed at the lack of jealousy within me. I kept waiting for that spark of fear and rage, but it never came. I realized at some point that I was finally convinced that Dana Katherine Scully was in love with me, and only me. And I wanted her to experience all the happiness and pleasure that life had to hold. Making her happy made me happy, regardless of whether another person was involved or not. That didn't exclude me; it just upped the stakes and the potential for incredible sexual gratification. 

I let her wait a bit longer in anticipation, knowing what that did to her. I stared at her sex. Her labia were red and bulging with blood. I watched as a drop of her arousal gave up the fight and fell from her gurgling cunt. I felt the air leave my lungs and my cock twitch with anticipation. 

My voice was ragged and rusty when I said, "Come here". 

She didn't hesitate but flew across the room, launching herself into my arms. I caught her tiny body easily and she literally climbed up my torso, her legs coming around my hips swiftly. She squirmed trying to impale herself on my cock. I pulled her roughly against my chest to stop her squirming and shook my head in the negative. She went still instantly and I felt that rush I always got when she obeyed me without question. I turned and stepped into the kitchen, turning again and pressing her against the wall. Her ass was wiggling again and I clamped my hands over her firm globes. I pressed her to the wall, stilling her again. 

Her eyes begged me for satisfaction and she was whining like an excited puppy, trembling in my arms as her lips came down and sucked harshly on the tendon in my throat. I groaned and thrust against her belly. She pulled back and looked down at my cock, which was at full mast and trapped between us. She licked her lips and they may as well have been wrapped around my sex. My cock twitched and strained up toward the ceiling, becoming unbearably hard as my skin stretched to the limit. 

I lifted her buttocks and placed her dripping slit over my cockhead. The big, blunt tip penetrated her snug muscle and then I loosened my grip. Her body weight sank her down on my towering erection. She sighed loudly in relief and I felt wetness ooze out around our joining and dribble down our thighs. 

She wriggled against me again and I could feel her greedy cunt simmering around my cockshaft, grasping at me with a thousand tiny muscles. I'd just entered her and she was ready to orgasm. 

Unfuckingbelievable. 

I lost it and began slamming her against the wall. She'd slid up and as I withdrew her back would slide down and I'd ram into her again, thrusting up and shoving her body up the wall as I buried my aching cock inside her wet, hot walls. My forearms came down on the wall, her armpits hanging over my elbows. 

She was yelping and whining. I grunted with the effort and was rewarded. Five strokes was all it took and I felt her ass cheeks clench as her exquisite body rose off my pelvis, tilting her hips forward, her body swallowing my raging shaft again. Her mouth hung open on a silent scream of ecstasy. I was still in awe that I could make this beautiful, brilliant woman mindless with pleasure. 

Her arms clutched at my shoulders as her orgasm began. Her quivering voice chanted, "Ohfuckme, fuckme, fuckme, fuckme, Ohfuckme, fuckme, fuckme." 

Never one to deny the lady, I fucked her. For the next five minutes, I rammed inside her until I felt my legs shaking with the strain and my breathing was becoming too harsh. 

* * *

He was nailing me to the wall with incredible force. I was vaguely aware of the feeling of my skin scraping against the wall with every hard thrust, but I didn't care. He surrounded me as his great cock surged in and out of my small body. My eyes rolled back in my head and I felt my entire body begin to tingle, the rush of blood in my ears drowning out everything around me. 

I was vaguely aware of babbling, but mostly just amazed at how well he did this, time after time. My body reacted to him in a way that it had to no other man in my life. I thought about sex with Mulder and it was as if a switch were flipped. All systems go. I could no longer be called back by strategic air command. My pulse was up, my blood was singing, my hair was electrified, and my crotch was burbling with excitement. Just like that. 

I couldn't think of any feeling better than his hard beast of a cock filling me to the brim as he slammed into me like a jackhammer; except maybe two cocks filling me to the brim as they slammed into me like a jackhammer. I watched the exquisite grimace on his face as his arousal crept towards its inevitable conclusion. He was a beautiful man and never more so than when he was in throes of passion. There were no walls between us and all the love, respect, lust and awe was in his face every time I watched him come undone from being inside me. 

This connection, this feeling of two bodies becoming one was something I could never share with Walter or any man. Therein lied the difference. Our connection wasn't just physical, it was mental and spiritual, and we were literally two halves of a whole. I did occasionally regret all the time I'd spent closing myself off from this. It was almost funny that at one time, I was afraid that Mulder would hurt me if we were to get involved. I was afraid the work would be more important. I knew differently now. A particularly hard thrust jarred me out of my musings. 

We both shouted and my over sensitized tunnel spasmed around him a second time. My back arched as much as the wall would allow as I clung to his broad shoulders, feeling the pleasure wash over me like a tidal wave. I was babbling, "Oh fuck me, you fuck me so good, come for me, want to feel you come inside me. Oh God! Fill me up, Baby! Let go!" 

I hadn't fully recovered yet as the aftershocks rocked my frame, but I did open my eyes. 

I was just in time to see the agony of his wrenching climax shoot through him. So much for gentle, loving sex on date night! I couldn't bring myself to be disappointed. I was like an addict and Mulder was my fix. 

* * *

I shouted from somewhere deep in my throat as I felt my balls blowing. "Aaahhh, fffuuuccckkk, Ssccuullyyy! Aaaaawwwwww! I lloovvee yyoouu!" I roared as I filled her boiling cunt to the brim with my hot juices. I collapsed against her, feeling her body slide down the wall and away from mine. 

She stood on tiptoes as I backed away slowly. Her arms wrapped around my waist, holding herself upright. We panted in each other's ears as we came down. After a minute or so, I raised my face to hers and smiled gently at her. "Looking forward to tomorrow, are we, Scully?" 

She grinned like a Cheshire cat but didn't answer me. "Hungry?" 

I inhaled, now smelling the wonderful smell of spaghetti sauce and cheese for the first time. "Yeah, I'm hungry all right," I replied, my double meaning not lost on my quick partner. 

She grinned again and stood up straight. "Let me get dressed." 

"Naw, let's eat naked." 

"You are incorrigible," she replied. 

"M ... me?" I stuttered. "Why the nerve, ..." I began. 

She punched me gently in the shoulder and said, "It's ready, let's eat." 

"What do you have for dessert?" I asked as I straightened up and reached for my boxers. 

She held her panties in her hand, looked down at her crotch, and tilted it toward me. She looked up, raising an eyebrow in question. I guffawed and pulled my boxers up, snapping the elastic around my waist. 

"I might take you up on that," I said as she wiped herself with a dishtowel and tossed another one to me. She pulled her panties on, and slipped her sport bra over her head. 

We sat down like that in our underwear and ate quietly, throwing lascivious and amused glances at one another. 

Once our bellies were full, I intended to take her into the bedroom and see if we couldn't work off some more of our sexual tension. Christ, sometimes it was nearly constant. I wasn't complaining though. I loved her spontaneity. I adored that she would let me take her anytime, anyplace practically. I'd been surprised by that early on, expecting her to be reserved sexually as she was in her professional life. 

I don't think I'd ever been so wrong about anything in my entire life, and I'd been wrong plenty of times. 

Maybe I'd take her in the Jacuzzi tub. I found myself looking forward to tomorrow almost as much as she was. Was that possible? I don't know, but I knew I couldn't wait to see her taken again by that gigantic tool. There was something so exciting to me about seeing her towered over by his gigantic body. I knew how it made me feel and I knew it had the same effect on him. He was much bigger and broader than me. Scully looked like a china doll beneath him. I knew she wasn't fragile though. I knew she wouldn't break. I shivered as the image of his fat rubbery knob splitting her tiny slit flashed across my mind. Watching that horse cock lay her open had been one of the most exciting sights I'd ever seen. 

I opened my eyes to see her staring at me with a quirky smile on her face. "Sure you want to wait until tomorrow?" 

"Don't start that now, Scully. We agreed." 

She smiled. "I know, I was just teasing." 

* * *

**MULDERS HIDE-A-WAY**  
**FALLS CHURCH, VA**  
**FRIDAY EVENING**

The time was finally here. I heard his tentative knock on the front door and moved to open it. I'd left Scully tied in the Hide-A-Way, strapped into the swing that hung from the ceiling. She was gloriously naked and blindfolded. 

I knew Walter was going to be out of his mind with anticipation. Who wouldn't be? Scully and I had agreed beforehand to let him just take her first. I'd already made love to her about an hour ago to take my own edge off. I'd showered and gotten into my robe and then got her set up. 

Walter smiled at me as I opened the door. I waved him in and closed and locked the door behind him. He was wearing sweatpants and a muscle shirt, no socks and boat shoes. Easy on, easy off, I thought. Good move. 

"Is everything still O.K.?" he asked. I could tell he was still nervous. 

I smiled broadly at him. "Why don't we go downstairs and find out. She's waiting for you." 

"Waiting for me?" he asked, swallowing harshly. 

"I got her ready for you. We decided that you get her first." 

"Oh God," he murmured, his chest already beginning to expand in quick breaths as his arousal began. 

"Let's go." 

I headed for the basement door and he followed without another word. 

We entered the Hide-A-Way and I glanced at Scully. She was hanging docilely in the swing, her legs together, ankles crossed, her hands bound above her head. The straps held her thighs firmly so she didn't need to strain to stay upright. 

I heard Walter gasp at the sight of her, her arched back throwing her puckered nipples nearly straight up into the air. 

I slipped off my robe and tossed it onto the bed as I made my way to her. I slipped behind her and wrapped my hands around her torso from behind. My hands slid up to cup her breasts. They were firm and taut and ready. Walter was shedding his clothes quickly. "Are you still sure?" he asked again. 

"This one is for you, Walter," Scully said softly. "We already made love earlier. You get to do anything you want as long as I stay in this swing. Go ahead and take the edge off." 

He actually whimpered. I raised my eyebrows, looking at him over her head as my fingers gripped her nipples in a punishing grip. She cried out as I tugged viciously on her hardened nubs, watching them stretch more and more with every tight pull. In no time, they were standing out a half an inch. 

Walter had walked away briefly but returned with nipple clamps. He looked at me for approval and I smiled at him, nodding. I dipped my head to her ear. "Nipple Clamps, Doll." 

She whimpered and arched her back, forcing her mounds into my palms. The use of her pet name now automatically triggered a response in her. I chuckled at her reaction. Walter's hand replaced one of mine as he pinched her nipple as he stood in front of her. 

"Awwww, yeah!" she cried out as he attached the first one. Her nipple flushed a bright red, engorged with blood. She panted and a fine sheen of sweat broke out on her upper lip. 

I cupped her breast gently, squeezing her flesh to increase the bite of the clamp. "Oh Fuck!" she muttered and I saw her thighs quiver, knowing her crotch was gushing with the juice of her arousal. Walter moved to the other breast and repeated his move. 

"Oh man," he muttered, as they were both in place. "I've been waiting all week for this." I backed away from her and let his hands replace mine. He was not gentle. I could see his arousal had washed away the last of his hesitation. He was totally fixated on Scully. She could feel and hear him, but she was blindfolded and didn't know what was coming next. 

"I kept seeing these nipple clamps and remembering how they made your little pussy boil over when Mulder used them on you." 

One hand reached down and she yelped as he jerked her legs wide apart. He didn't even have to check to see if she was ready. We could both see the fluids leaking out of her, shining on her spread thighs. He murmured, "I've got blue balls from being hard all day." 

He took his massive tool and pressed the plum sized head against her tight entrance. His hands gripped her waist. He was still for about a minute, letting the tension build. She whimpered in anticipation. His thumb reached out and raked over her distended nipples, she cried out "Oh God!" 

I whispered in her ear, "Oh Doll, his cock head is turning purple it's so hard and full of blood, just for you." 

Scully's breaths were wavering as she breathed deeply and let the clamps bite into her nipples. "Ohhhhwwww, it hurts, so good," she moaned after a particularly deep breath. "Oh Walter, please!" 

That was the end of Walter's control and he grabbed her hips and shoved his cock into her slit, forcing her lips to fold in and back. Scully yelped, "Aaahhhh!" 

He stopped. He was only half way in with that one stroke and despite her readiness it was a tight fit. He was half again as thick as I was and I was no slouch. The sight of her lips folded in made it look like he was forcing his enormous rod into her cunt and I moaned, no longer able to keep from touching myself. She'd nearly shaved herself, leaving only a small triangle of hair on her mound. You could see everything perfectly. 

I knew how much my voice excited Scully so I decided to talk to her and tell her what I saw. The imagination is often better than seeing the reality. Although in this case, it might be a draw for me. I stroked myself as I talked in her ear. 

"Oh Doll. He's so big he's folded your lips inside. Looks like he can't fit. Just when I think he can't spread you further, ... God, Doll, his pole looks so good, fuck me, he's spreading you even wider." 

She whimpered. 

He shoved harder, with steady pressure and watched himself sink into her hole. His lips curled back against his teeth as he enjoyed the pleasure of her tight folds. 

I stepped behind her again and cupped her breasts. "Your little tunnel is spread so wide, Doll. Oh man, it looks close to splitting wide open. Doesn't look like it can spread any further. How does it feel, Scully?" 

"Soooo gooood, Lover. He stuffs me so full. Awww, Walter, please fuck me." I wasn't immune to her using my pet name either as I felt another rush of arousal that stiffened me to the point where my shaft began to throb and ache. 

"You're going to get fucked all right," he said. "Just a little more." 

"More?" she squeaked. 

"Oh yeah, baby, at least three more inches," I informed her. 

She lost her restraint and patience and cried out, "Fuck me, Walter. Jesus, do it! Hurt me with it! Take me hard!" 

He didn't hesitate this time. She wailed as he pulled his giant rod back till just his enormous head was inside and slammed into her again, forcing another inch deeper into her. He leaned forward and mashed his mouth down over hers, grunting as he lunged forward, jerking his hips, once, twice, three times, until he was almost imbedded inside her. 

* * *

I screamed. 

I couldn't help it as my body shook from the forceful penetration. He held still for a second or two once fully inside me. Then his mouth covered mine and I could barely breath. He began slamming his gigantic organ in and out of my unbearably stretched cunt. I heard Mulder cooing in my ear and then giving Walter encouragement. 

"That's it, Walt, this is all for you. Don't worry about her pleasure. Just use her for yours. Use my Baby Doll. Make her sore. Stretch her wide open with that monster prick. Just fuck her hard and fast until your balls blow." 

"Ahhhh," he cried out. He grunted in between violent thrusts. "Nothing ... better ... than your ... little, tiny pussy ... wrapped around me ... so fucking tight. You were ... made for this, Scully ... to be fucked ... and fucked ... and fucked! ... Almost there! I want to press ... my aching balls ... into your little ... juicy hole!" 

I couldn't believe it. Almost there! He wasn't all the way in? I was sure he had been. I couldn't see! I felt a moment of panic, but then Mulder's hand squeezed my breasts, making the clamps torture my burning nipples. Streaks of burning pain raced down from my nipples and spread hot warmth through my guts. Mulder wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. I relaxed in my restraints. 

Walter's meaty hands gripped the top of my pelvis and yanked me forcefully toward him as he threw his large body toward me, driving his cock deep into my belly. I felt him hit something way up inside me. He was forced way up my cunt pipe, making it feel bloated as the muscles strained to the limit, burning with the stretch of the tender muscles. He was stretching my cervix with every heavy blow of his wide cock head, causing a sharp cringe of slight pain with every thrust. 

"Oh Jesus! You're going to take all of me again. I'm gonna take your inner cherry, Scully. I've got to have it." 

My inner cherry? Huh? I didn't have long to think about it. He pulled back and rammed into me with incredible speed. Then I felt it; he hit my battered cervix with brutal force. It spasmed and then blossomed with aching warmth, the pain spearing through me as I felt him push through into my womb. I could actually feel his enormous cock growing even longer and thicker within me with every pulse. I screamed. 

Walter shouted, "Shit, Yeah! I'm so deep! Oh God! You're so small! OhmyfuckingGod, I feelsofuckinghuge! I love feeling like a giant. I'm so hard. Oh shit, mycockhurts, mycockhurtssofucking good!" 

I heard Mulder moan and step away from me. My torso swayed slightly in the swing without his support. My arms were bound over my head. Walter's grip on my hips preventing me from swinging, but my head flopped back. I felt one of his arms snake around my body, anchoring me to his solid stomach muscles that flexed with effort as he used his hips to drive himself in and out of me. This made his pubic bone roll over my clit. 

My stretched walls were squeezing his dick. He leaned in and lapped at my tortured nipple and I felt my climax sear through me like hot, white lightening, all my nerve endings crying out at the same time. "Ahh, it hurts! So good, oh you make me come so hard! More! Don't stop. Oh yes, Walter! You make it hurt so good!" I was babbling like I was out of mind. I was, out of mind with pleasure. 

I felt his hands leave my hips and a second later, they landed on the side of my breasts, gripping hard enough to leave bruises and mashing them together from the sides. The clamps bit into my flesh, the sensation getting past the numbness that now resided in my nipples. I cried out as another peak hit me the same time as the pain in my breasts. 

Mulder was suddenly there again, yanking, pulling a strap, and lifting my legs higher and wider until they were in my armpits. His erection was pressed between my butt cheeks and he enjoyed the rocking of my body against him as Walter continued his unrelenting assault on my body. 

Walter sucked and chewed on my lips, squeezing my breasts, his thrusting never stopping. The rhythmic gripping of my breasts sent knifing pain into my nipples. My stretched walls spasmed with each squeeze of his hands as he thrust inside. 

He lifted away from me and I could feel his panting breath on my face. He muttered into my mouth, "So sexy, you're so god damned sexy, Scully. You make me burn for you. Keep coming for me. Love to make you come, feel you squeeze me so tight with your little pussy." 

I was helpless and sinking into pure sensation. He continued to hump me, as his sweat dripped onto my body. I moaned helplessly under his assault, awash in a sea of sensation as my body shuddered with one continuous climax. This was supposed to be all for him, but I'd come twice already anyway. He was still babbling. "Gonna make your cherry come on my cock." 

He plunged to the bottom of my tunnel. I could feel my flesh straining around his hot hardness. He pushed through my cervix into my womb again. He ground into me, not retreating. "I'm gonna pump you so full! I'm gonna empty my balls right into your belly. Oh here it comes, beautiful!" 

"Oh yes! Don't stop. Oh Jesus, it hurts so good!" 

He rocked into me, pushing deep, pulled back to stretch the membrane as he met the resistance as he backed out. He would rock back in before he could slide past the muscle and out of my womb. I screamed again with the pleasure/pain, as my body convulsed in hard, jerking spasms from the most incredible orgasm. I was having a cervical climax. I'd had them before, but they were uncommon, and I'd never experienced one with a cock holding my entrance open. The pleasure was blinding as my cervix convulsed in hard waves that bordered on being painful. 

Finally, he bellowed, "Ohhh, Chhhrrriiisssstttt!" 

I felt his cock throb and his hot cum squirt with incredible force up inside me. He ground his pubic bone against my clit and I shouted out and tossed my head as another sharp, quick, climax snapped through my body hard on the heels of the other, which was still in motion. My cervix was clamping down on his cock like a vice as he ejaculated directly into my womb. His grinding hips crushed my clit and made my vagina convulse around his enormous shaft. I was having two different kinds of climaxes at the same time. 

"More?!" he asked through clenched teeth. 

I chanted, "More, more, more!" 

He ground his hips into me as he swiveled them. In a quick move that I didn't anticipate, he released both nipple clamps. Blood rushed into the numb tips, hot and stinging pain knifing through my breasts. "Aaawww Damn, it hurts! Oh God!" I screamed. Oh God, it hurt. I didn't think I could take it. 

But my twat reacted instantly to the wonderful rush of pain and gripped him even harder as another round of clenching spasms shook my womb and vagina. The pain in my breasts shot straight to my core. I blacked out for a second but came to instantly, and he shouted again, "Oh Yeah! Take it all, squeeze it out of me. Milk me dry with your little pussy! Oh so good!" 

His thrusts became shorter, jerky, and clumsy and finally as he flexed his hips against mine, he let some of his weight rest on my chest. I knew he wasn't collapsing entirely, even though the swing would have been able to take the weight. I was grateful as my breaths burned in and out of my lungs from the workout. I'd barely moved and yet felt as though I'd run a marathon. 

He stood straight up gingerly and very slowly backed out of my now gaping vagina. I felt a mouth lap at me gently, soothing my tortured buds and knew it wasn't Mulder. It was Walter. I shivered and then hung limply in my restraints. 

I felt Mulder gently remove the blindfold and smooth my sweaty hair away from my forehead and tuck it behind my ears. I smiled up at him as he gently removed each of the straps. 

My legs slid to the floor, pins and needles causing me to gasp as my feet made contact with the floor. My arms were released and I felt my body sway as blood rushed from my head into my legs. Mulder was instantly there, supporting my body. Walter was peering at me with a look of awe on his face. 

"I still feel like I must be dreaming," he murmured. "I've never had such incredible sex as I've had with you." 

Mulder smiled. "Let's all get comfortable on the bed, I think your legs are a little wobbly, aren't they, Doll?" 

"Yeah, Lover," I breathed out and took a tentative step, collapsing onto the bed. 

* * *

Mulder walked away and returned with the box of baby wipes that we always kept handy along with washcloths and towels. He gently cleaned me up as I lay down on my back. I hissed at the soreness of my lips as he grazed them with the wipe. I glanced at Walter sitting next to me and looking down at my face. He frowned. 

"Did I hurt you?" 

"Hurt me so good," I joked, and closed my eyes, humming as Mulder continued his gentle ministrations. I loved the sex, rough or not, but this part was almost more intimate in many ways. I loved having Mulder take care of me. 

I levered up onto my elbows and looked at Mulder as he stood at the side of bed and turned away to throw away the wipe and set the washcloth on the sink in the corner. He was still hard! Oh my God, he hadn't come. 

"Lover, let me take care of you," I said softly as he turned to return to the bed. 

He smiled. "I'll be all right. You rest for a few minutes." 

He stood at the side of the bed again and I reached out, wrapping my hand around him. He bucked involuntarily and groaned. "You're close aren't you?" I asked. 

He nodded. I glanced at Walter expecting him to be staring at me since that's what he'd done through out last session and since he came in here tonight. I couldn't see him earlier but I could feel the intense force of his regard as he'd taken me. I'd known he was totally focused on me. Instead, his eyes were riveted on Mulder's throbbing cock in my hand. 

I smiled as a wicked thought crossed my mind. Would they go for it? I wondered. I felt a ripple of excitement and realized I'd squeezed Mulder's shaft when he moaned and bucked into me again. I looked up and met his eyes and then looked at Walter. 

Very carefully and softly I asked, "Walter, do you want to take care of it?" 

"What?!" both men cried at the same time. 

I shrugged looking sheepish. "Sorry, just thought I'd ask." 

Mulder shuddered and I watched his eyes close. I looked back to Walter and watched as his tongue snaked out of lick his lips. I didn't move. Walter croaked, "I want to watch you suck him. You are such an incredible cocksucker." 

The words should have insulted me, but in my current state of post orgasmic bliss, I preened under his compliment, flashing him a wide smile filled with false modesty. He returned my smile. "Doll?" Mulder croaked as his cock twitched in my hand. "Now, Doll," he growled. 

I smiled and leaned forward, flicking my tongue over his head and lapping up the precum. "Oh shit," he muttered. 

"Lay down, Lover." 

He obeyed without question. It wasn't often I gave him a command, but he usually gave in when I did. He crawled onto the bed, his heavy sex swaying between his legs. 

He lay back with a sigh and I knelt beside him. Walter was on the other side, lying on his side, head in hand, elbow supporting the weight. He watched without moving. Only his eyes flickered from Mulder's tormented face to his cock, which I now had in my hand again. 

I looked him in the eye and I could see the desire there. I glanced at his waist and saw him beginning to harden again. He wanted to join in but he was unsure of intruding at this point. I noticed that he always waited for permission from Mulder. 

I leaned over and covered the head of his shaft. I licked him and sucked gently. He moaned again his eyes closed. I cupped his balls and slid my mouth over him, moving up and down in a gentle rhythm. He sighed deeply, enjoying the sensations. My mouth was barely putting any pressure him. 

I sucked a little harder and he groaned. I lifted my mouth up and took him in hand, stroking gently. His eyes popped open and he looked at me, his eyes questioning. 

"Relax, Baby." 

His head flopped back onto the pillow and he closed his eyes, his hips beginning to flex up and down in time with my strokes. I looked at Walter meaningfully, then at Mulder's cock, then back to Walter. I said, "Lover, do you want to take me from behind?" 

His eyes popped open and he panted harshly. 

"Wanna fuck my ass?" 

He nodded his head curtly. I moved out of the way as he maneuvered behind me. I came up on all fours and motioned for Walter to come around in front of me. He immediately looked at Mulder. I couldn't see, but obviously he must have nodded at him because Walter scrambled across the bed and arranged himself so that he was leaning against the headboard, with a couple of pillows behind his back. I moved up and straddled his bulky thighs. 

I reached out and took him in my hand, feeling him grow harder by the second. I leaned down and licked at his pre-ejaculate on the swollen head of his cock and he sighed deeply. Mulder was busy using my own natural lubrication to moisten and probe my rear end. I groaned just as I wrapped my mouth around the head of Walter's shaft. It was his turn to moan and I heard Mulder ask quietly. "You ready, Doll?" 

I lifted enough to say, "Yes, Lover." 

His hands gripped my cheeks, spreading them wide as he pressed gently against my tightened muscle. I felt it spasm and let loose as he slowly sank inside me. My moaning vibrations washed over the shaft in my mouth and I felt Walter harden and lengthen against my tongue. He was fully erect now and it was an awesome sight. 

Mulder was not being rough, exceptionally gentle in fact, maybe to counteract the brutal fucking I'd just endured, even though he was in the other hole. I was glad actually as my vagina was sore and I could still feeling it stinging from the earlier intrusion. Mulder thrust gently but deeply and I heard his breathing increase, his hands moving to my waist. He was taking his time, drawing out the moment. I knew he was close and so didn't tighten my muscles. I wanted to enjoy begin with both of them for a little longer. 

Walter's hands came down to brush my shoulders and then to gently push the hair back from my face so he could see what was going on. He moaned softly, "Feels so good, Scully. Oh, yes, blow me with that beautiful mouth. God, you are so sexy. Please, suck me, oh suck me hard!" 

"Mmmmm," the only response I could muster. I hollowed my cheeks as I increased the suction on his swollen shaft. 

I felt Mulder speed up a little but he was still being pretty slow and gentle, more like rocking into me than thrusting but I could feel him harden a little more. He groaned, "Oh, I'm not gonna last, Doll. You'll have to make yourself come." 

I lifted off Walter's towering erection and muttered, "It's all right, Lover, come for me." Even though Mulder's desires were always satisfied when we played, he liked to make me come. He didn't like to leave me hanging, so to speak. I could hear the regret mingled with the excitement in his voice. 

I descended again and sucked hard, knowing Mulder was only a couple of strokes away from completion and wanting us to come together. I took my weight on one arm and reached down with the other to swipe over my clit. A slow release waved through my tunnel and backside, tightening my muscles around Mulder's cock. He jerked, groaned once and I felt the hot, spreading warmth of his cum filling my rear entrance. 

Walter was still hard but I could tell he was close. In this position I couldn't deep throat him but was taking all I could. Mulder simply held still inside me as I reached up and cupped his balls, rolling them through my fingers gently. That was all it took and he bucked into my mouth, breathing out, "Oh Yeah! Suck me dry!" 

Four long, slow ejaculations later, I felt him soften on my tongue and I licked him clean. Mulder grunted and slowly backed out of me, massaging my rear cheeks to close my now stretched muscles. 

I collapsed onto the bed with what I imagined was a goofy expression. They were both smiling down at me. I was suddenly ravenous and asked, "Anybody hungry?" 

They nodded. Mulder said, "Let's get cleaned up and see what we can find in the kitchen." 

We all put on robes and made our way up the stairs to the bigger bathroom to clean up. I hissed when I wiped myself and wondered at the soreness, thinking it was worse than last time. I might have to have him use some KY jelly next time. 

* * *

We cleaned up and headed for the kitchen. Scully had beat us there and I'd heard the refrigerator open and close a second ago. 

I entered the kitchen with Walter on my heels and stopped dead in my tracks. The bottom was about to drop out of my world. Scully was holding her robe aside from her legs. With a detached expression, she looked up at me calmly and said, "I'm bleeding." 

* * *

* * *

**PART 2 (R)**  
**FALLS CHURCH MEDICAL CENTER**  
**FALLS CHURCH, VA**  
**FRIDAY EVENING - 10:00 PM**

I sat with my head in my hands in the waiting room as I listened to Walter pace, wearing a hole in the dingy indoor/outdoor carpeting that covered the cement floors of the ER waiting room. We'd rushed her to the hospital, not bothering with calling an ambulance. 

She insisted that she was not in any pain, but I both Walter and I panicked anyway. I'd called her OB/GYN by cell phone in route and she had been waiting for us when Walter peeled into the ER parking lot, practically on two wheels. 

I'd picked her up and baby carried her into the ER, as Dr. Linda Fischbein met us with a stretcher. She was pushed into an examining room. We were pushed out of the room by two, burly orderlies who said we couldn't be there for the exam, maybe later. 

Walter stopped pacing and I responded to the sudden absence of sound. I looked up at him with what I knew was a haunted expression. He opened his mouth and closed it again. Then he took a deep breath and said in a rush, "Mulder, if she loses this baby, I'll stand on the firing range and let you put a bullet in my head." 

His mouth quivered with disgust and self-loathing and he couldn't meet my eyes. I croaked out around the lump in my throat. "It's not your fault. She trusts me to protect her in those situations when she's out of her mind and I didn't do it. I got caught up too. I have to be more aware. We talked about this, curbing the rough stuff. We didn't think she was in any danger for another month or so though. She shouldn't have been. I don't know what happened." 

"I'll never forgive myself, Mulder." 

"Neither will I," I rejoined, looking at the floor. "But we don't know yet." 

"No, we don't know yet," he said quietly. After a pause he said, "I hate not knowing." 

I looked up again, feeling the sting of tears. "We want this so much, God! How could I be so stupid! She CAN'T lose this baby. It will destroy her! Christ, it will destroy me ..." 

I felt his meaty hand come down on my shoulder and I flinched involuntarily. He let go and backed off a step. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "It's not you. I know you're trying to ... be comforting. But I just can't have you touch me right now." 

He nodded, understanding. "Mulder, I need to tell you something." 

I looked up, not really wanting to hear it. "What? Can it wait?" 

He shook his head. "No, I don't want you blaming yourself if this goes ... badly." 

"I don't understand." 

"I know. Did you know what I meant when I said I was going to ... take her ... uh ... inner cherry?" 

I scrunched my brow, vaguely remembering that. "Yeah, I think so. It didn't really register with me at the moment what you were going to do, but I know what it means if that's what you're asking." 

He nodded. "I pushed inside, Mulder," he said quietly. 

I just stared at him, not trusting myself to speak at that moment as I felt rage well up within me. I was angry at him, at Scully, at the whole situation, but mostly at myself for not being more careful and insisting we be gentle. 

He continued, "Do you know what I'm saying, Mulder?" 

I nodded sharply. He had pushed through her cervix into her womb. I hadn't even known that was possible in that position. I'd done it only once or twice and that was with her positioned very carefully on her back with her legs in her armpits and me descending down on top of her with quite a bit of force. But he was considerably bigger than I was so he was able to achieve it with her on a 45-degree angle and him standing in front of her. Amazing, exciting ... and potentially deadly for the life she carried in her womb. Why hadn't I realized? A warning bell should have gone off in my head. 

"I should have stopped you," I said, feeling the rage dissipate and taking the blame. "It was my responsibility. I'll be lucky if she ever trusts me again." 

"Mulder, don't do this. It's not your fault. It's MINE." 

We both jerked around as Dr. Fischbein said, "What's your fault?" 

I jumped to my feet and we both stood like statues waiting for her to tell us what was going on. She was wearing hospital scrubs with a white lab coat, unbuttoned down the front over it. Her hair was in a sloppy brunette ponytail and her surgical mask was hanging around her throat, leaving her face uncovered. The corners of her mouth jerked up in a quirky, amused smile and I felt the anger build in me again. I was not amused and this was no laughing matter. 

She must have seen something in my face because she smiled softly then, no amusement and said, "She's fine. She's going to be fine." 

I heard Walter release a breath he'd been holding but I wasn't relieved yet. "And ... and the baby?" I asked haltingly, licking my lips. 

She continued to smile. "Everything's fine." 

"Why was she bleeding?" I asked, needing to know the particulars. 

"A small blood vessel in her vagina broke, about half way up. It caused a small hemorrhage but I was able to cauterize it and stop the bleeding. There's no damage to her cervix or womb ... or to the baby." 

I sagged in relief. "Thank God!" I choked out around the sob in my throat, covering my eyes with my hands, not wanting her to see my tears. 

She touched my hand gently and I lowered it, taking a deep breath and focusing on her face again. "I do need to speak with you though." 

I nodded and she motioned for us to take a seat. We sat gingerly on the edge of the uncomfortable plastic chairs. She remained standing. "We might want to have this conversation privately," she said with a pointed look at Skinner. 

I shook my head. "It's all right, he's a ... close friend." 

She nodded and then continued, "She fine, but I do want to speak with you about your ... sex life." 

I looked at her steadily, wondering how much Scully had told her. I figured she probably wouldn't have mentioned Skinner. "Was I too rough?" I asked, my voice ragged with guilt. 

I hadn't even been inside her vagina other than earlier today, but the doctor didn't know that and she didn't need to know that. I saw Walter open his mouth and I shot him a warning glance. He snapped his jaw shut and I watched a muscle jump in his jaw. 

She pursed her lips as though trying to think of a tactful way to say something. I interrupted as she opened her mouth. "Don't sugar coat it, just tell me." 

She was probably wondering about Walter's comment that it was his fault. 

She nodded firmly and said, "Sex is fine during pregnancy. Generally right through the second trimester, regular sex is fine. In the last trimester, some precautions need to be made so no unnecessary pressure is not put on the stomach and things like that, but there's no reason not to have sex." 

I waited, knowing there was more. 

She sighed, "However, Mrs. Mulder is a high risk pregnancy because of her age. The chances of the amniotic sac detaching from the uterus are slim, but there is a chance of that, and a slightly higher one because of her age and the fact that she shouldn't have been able to get pregnant in the first place." 

"Can you explain that more?" I asked. 

"Yes. You see when women are barren; they generally don't produce the same amount estrogen that menstruating, fertile women do. When you menstruate, the uterine lining fills with blood in preparation to receive an egg. When the fertilization doesn't occur, the lining breaks down and the woman has her period." 

"I know all that," I said, trying to hide my impatience and not doing a very good job, judging by the look on her face. 

"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but it's impossible for me to know how educated you are about women's anatomy. Even enlightened men often don't know anything about this ... sad but true." 

"I'm very educated about it and not embarrassed to talk about it," I replied. 

"Good, that makes my job easier. When a woman doesn't ovulate, the uterus does not fill with blood and those tissues do not get the benefit of the regular process of moisturization. Therefore, the tissues tend to become a little less ... flexible or pliant for lack of a better term. Mrs. Mulder wasn't ovulating and wasn't having her period. Therefore, her uterine lining is not as healthy as a normal woman's. It's fine and perfectly capable of carrying this baby and nourishing the baby. I've examined her closely with internal sonograms, etc., and everything seems to be fine. Her uterus is functioning properly. 

"But?" Why did I sense a 'but' here? 

"But ... " she began with a wry smile; "I would like to keep careful watch on the condition of her uterine lining. There is a condition that can occur if the lining begins to dry up. It stops the flow of fluids to the amniotic sac and can result in a condition where she doesn't have enough amniotic fluid. This makes it harder to nourish the baby. It can be treated and is not life threatening to the baby if it's caught early and treated, but I want to watch for it. 

"Also, Brackston Hicks is a condition whereby ..." 

I interrupted her, "False labor." 

"Yes, rough sex can induce Brackston Hicks later in the pregnancy." 

"So in short ....?" 

"In short, have sex, but be ... gentle with her. Hold off on anything ... rough or too jarring to her womb. Do you understand?" 

I nodded. "Yes, thank you, doctor. I'm sorry I was so curt with you." 

Scully must have known all these conditions were possible. Either she hadn't thought she was in danger of them or she had not wanted to curtail my enjoyment. Either way, I was slightly miffed that Scully had not shared this with me. I may have approached things very differently. 

"No problem. I know you were scared, but she really is going to be fine. And I don't even necessarily expect any of the problems, but they are things to look for. I'd like her to come in once a month for the duration of her pregnancy to have her amniotic fluid levels checked and her uterine lining examined. If it shrinks, due to lack of blood then the egg can detach more easily. If we detect that, you might have to suspend sex, but right now, all seems fine. Her vagina will be sore for about a week due to the cauterization. After that everything should be fine." 

"Maybe we should just suspend those activities all together." 

She smiled and shook her head. "You could try, but I doubt Dana will go for it." 

I smiled briefly, knowing how much Scully enjoyed sexual activity after her long draught. "The baby is more important," I said. 

She nodded. "Yes, but sex and orgasms can be healthy for the baby as well." 

"Really?" Walter asked. 

She flashed a smile again. "Yes, I don't know how much stock you put in the whole mind, body, spirit thing, but I try to treat the whole woman. If the mother is in good shape physically, which Mrs. Mulder is, then the more relaxed and content she is, the better off the baby will be. Not to mention that orgasms exercise those muscles that don't normally get used and make labor and delivery easier when the time comes. Plus, there have been studies about the relationship of fetal development in relation to the mother's state of mind and trauma's experienced during pregnancy, whether they are emotional or physical. Don't worry, Mr. Mulder. Sex if fine, you just have to be gentle." 

I nodded. "When can I see her?" 

"You can see her now if you like. I cauterized with a local so she wasn't put under. She's perfectly coherent. I've given her a non-narcotic painkiller. I steer away from narcotics with pregnant women if at all possible." 

"Thank you ... thank you for everything, doctor." 

"No problem. That's my job. Now I want to hold her for an hour or so and make sure the cauterization holds. If so, she can go home. She's in Exam Room 3." She turned and made her way to the nurse's station, probably to check on the next case. 

I started off down the hall with Walter close on my heels. He tapped my forearm and I stopped. He said, "Do you want me to wait?" 

"Could you? Just give me a minute alone with her. I'll call you in shortly." 

"Sure, no problem." 

He turned and went back to the waiting room. I glanced at him and saw him start to pace again. Then I put him out of my mind as I hurried down the hall to Exam Room 3. 

I broke out into a smile as I went through the curtain and found her propped up in the bed, smiling and looking at a magazine. "Scully ..." I said softly. 

She smiled at me and held out her arms. I went into them immediately, leaning over her but then sitting on the bed next to her hip. "Doctor says you're going to be fine." 

She cupped my face and kissed me gently on the lips. "Yeah, it was a false alarm." 

"Not really." 

She looked at the sheet over her lap. "No, but it wasn't the tragedy we thought." 

"No, but it's cause for concern." 

"Yes." She paused and then looked up to meet my eyes. "I was so scared," she whispered. 

I gathered her into my arms again and we sat silent, rocking gently. I kissed her hair over her ear and she hummed. Finally, I said, "We have to be really careful. Can you ever forgive me?" 

She pulled back to see my face. "Forgive you? For what? It was an accident, Mulder." 

"We can't afford any accidents, Scully. Walter feels terrible." 

"I figured he would. I'll talk to him. I can't believe this happened. I feel so irresponsible. I knew... but I really didn't think I was in danger till later in my pregnancy." 

"Did she say exactly what caused the blood vessel to break?" 

She looked down again. Then she whispered again, "She said I was probably stretched too far, too quickly." 

I nodded, swallowing around a new lump in my throat. "I should have stopped him. I saw how hard it was for him to penetrate you." 

"No Mulder. It's been like that before. I've probably just created a few weak vessels because of it. I asked her what to do to prevent it." 

"And what did she say?" 

"Lots and lots of lubrication." 

"Anything else?" 

"Slower penetration. I told her I was plenty lubricated." She began to flush slightly as she looked at her lap. 

I chuckled in spite of myself. She continued, "She said that might be true but my own lubrication might not be enough if my partner is especially ..." 

"Especially what? Enthusiastic?" 

"Uh ... well hung." 

I barked out a laugh. "Did she actually say that?" 

"Not in those words, but that's what she meant. I think she said well endowed. She also said I must be a lucky woman." I heard a little snicker from behind the curtain of hair that still covered her face. 

I looked at the wall, suddenly feeling strange. I didn't know whether to be relieved or upset that Walter was more well endowed than me. Seems she would be safer with me. Then again ... ah hell, I couldn't figure this out right now. 

"Mulder, I told her I was lucky, that I had the most loving and supportive husband in the world." 

I looked at her again, feeling a wave of protective emotion wash through me. I pulled her gently to my chest again and we sat like that for several minutes. "I love you so much, Scully. We can't screw this up. It may be our only chance." 

"I know. I've done a lot of thinking in the last couple of hours. I was so scared, Mulder. I want to blame someone but that's not fair. It was my own choice in the end and I let it happen for the pleasure and I should have been more careful." 

"No! You count on me to monitor that, to set your limits and I let you down. I should have been more careful, told him to take it easy." 

"No, Mulder," she said sternly. "We will not play the blame game. No one is to blame. None of us. We made a mistake, that's all. Now we need to learn from it and make sure it doesn't happen again, that's all. I'm sure we'll all agree that this was a learning experience." 

"To say the least. I could do without any more learning experiences like this one, though." 

She nodded. "Me too. We'll just have to be careful." 

"Maybe we should stick with ... oral sex," I suggested tentatively. 

She shook her head. "No. I want this baby, Mulder, more than I've ever wanted anything in my entire life, ... besides you that is." 

I smiled warmly at her. "Scully ..." 

"I'm not stupid, Mulder, and I won't take chances, but I can't live my life in fear." 

"Not even for six months?" 

"Something could go wrong no matter what and Dr. Fischbein said that sex is healthy. We both know that. She doesn't know what kind of sex we have, so she can't comment on it, but I can hazard a guess. I just need to be careful not to be taken roughly. We will have sex, but it will need to be gentle, that's all." She paused. "And she doesn't know we do this, but I think we should probably avoid double penetration. That stretches me to the limit." 

"O.K., we'll talk about this more when we get home. In the meantime, doc says you can go home in an hour if all goes well. Walter wants to see you but he said for me to be alone with you first." 

She leaned in and kissed me gently again. "Go get him," she said softly. 

I left the room and was only half way down the hall when he met me coming the other way. I motioned for him and he fell into step beside me. He hesitantly pulled back the curtain and stepped into the small examining room. I went to the far side of the bed and he approached her slowly, watching her face. She smiled gently at him. 

He didn't sit down. He just took her hands. "I'm sorry," he said softly. 

"No ones fault, Walter. We made a mistake. We won't make it again." 

"I think that maybe I should ... not continue this with you guys." 

Scully looked stricken. "Walter ..." 

"No. I've had a lot of time to think and it would be best for me to back away and ... at least until the baby is born." 

"That's not necessary," she said. 

"Maybe, maybe not. But I don't think I can live with myself if something happens to you or that baby because of me. I don't think I'll be able to get past this, not while you're still pregnant." 

She nodded. "I don't agree with you and you're welcome to change your mind. But like we said from the beginning, if you're not 100% comfortable with this ... then it won't work anyway and I don't want to destroy our friendship, no matter what." 

He nodded and looked up at me. "I don't mean to be a coward, Mulder, but I can't help it." 

"Whatever you decide, Walter." 

Scully sighed deeply. "Let's go home and talk about this some more. This isn't really the place. I don't want anyone overhearing us." 

We both nodded. She threw the covers back and slid gingerly to the floor, wincing slightly. Walter left to wait in the waiting room while I helped her get dressed. 

Once donning sweatpants and tee shirt again, I stood with my hands on her hips. "Are you really O.K.?" I asked. "Up here," I clarified, tapping my temple. 

"I will be. Mulder, I don't ..." 

"What?" I prompted. 

"I don't want him to ... run away from this, not because he's scared. We might never mend that fence and I don't want us to be uncomfortable around each other. We have to work together." 

"I agree. But it's his decision Scully. We knew this was one of the risks, that he could get cold feet, for this or some other reason." 

"Yeah." She was silent a moment. "Take me home, Mulder." 

I nodded and wrapped my arm around her shoulder, steering her into the hallway. Without a word, Walter stood up and led the way out to his big Monte Carlo. I slid in the back with Scully and he slid behind the wheel. He backed out and headed for home, still not saying anything. 

* * *

**MULDERS' HOME**  
**FALLS CHURCH, VA**  
**LATE FRIDAY EVENING**

When we arrived, I helped Scully out of the back seat and she stood tentatively. Then she smiled up at me. "I really only feel a twinge here and there. I'm really not in any pain." 

"Good," I responded and nodded toward the door. She walked slowly but seemingly with ease to the front door. I turned and saw Walter leaning against the front fender of his car. 

"Aren't you coming in?" I asked. 

He shook his head. "I think I'll go home." 

Scully turned then. "Come in, Walter. Have some coffee. We need to talk." 

"Scully, I should just go and leave you two alone." 

"Not yet, Walter. I don't want you leaving here thinking what you're thinking." 

"You don't know what I'm thinking." 

"Maybe not, but I'll bet I do. Come in and tell me and we'll be sure." 

He sighed loudly. "Guys, I should just ..." 

"Come inside, Walter. I want to talk to you both." 

He finally nodded, resigned and pushed away from the car and ambled slowly toward the front door. 

I situated Scully on the couch all curled up in an afghan and then made my way to the kitchen to make coffee. Walter sat in the wing back chair in the living room after I heard him making a fire in the fireplace. I poured the coffee and put the cream and sugar on a tray with the mugs. As I made my way back to the living room, I stopped to listen. 

Walter's voice, low and calm, floated out to me in the hallway. "I'm so sorry, Scully. I don't deserve it, but I hope you can forgive me." 

Scully replied, "There's nothing to forgive. There was no way we could have foreseen this and I'm fine." 

"This time," he said, his voice still riddled with guilt. 

She cleared her throat. "Listen to me. We were at the start of a good thing here." 

"I thought so at first, although I was nervous. But I was more nervous about Mulder suddenly becoming jealous or you suddenly regretting it more than anything else. I never considered that I was capable of really harming you." 

"I like it rough, Walter and I asked for that. It's not your fault. And just because I like something the best, doesn't mean that I can't set it aside for the sake of baby. I'm not stupid. That's what I intend to do. No sacrifice is too great for this baby and really, setting aside my favorite preference for another six months or so It isn't much of a sacrifice in the big scheme of things anyway." 

"I don't know. It seems this should be a private thing between you and Mulder." 

"It is. The baby is anyway. The baby and our sex life are two different issues except in regard to being careful about the baby. I'm not telling you about how it feels, and I won't be asking you to feel him or her kick when the time comes. Those will be moments for Mulder and I as husband and wife." 

"I could have made you miscarry, Scully. None of this feels right anymore." 

She sighed. "I'm sorry you feel that way. What I'm afraid of is you'll be awkward with us at work and we can't afford that, Walter. I'm in love with my husband. He's in love with me. But I care about you. You are special to both of us. You realize that don't you?" 

He muttered, "Yes, maybe that's why I feel even worse." 

"Stop beating yourself up. We all learned a valuable lesson and became more educated in the process. Besides, just because you have to be gentle with me or choose not to touch me, doesn't mean you can't touch Mulder." 

I heard him gasp a little and figured this was a good time to make my entrance. I didn't want to be left out of this conversation, but I knew that he had probably needed those few minutes alone with her without me staring down the back of his neck. 

They both looked up as I entered the room and placed the tray on the coffee table. I fixed Scully's coffee and handed it to her. Walter and I fixed our own and I sat on the couch next to Scully and pulled her legs into my lap as she sat sideways with her back to the armrest. 

We were all silent for a moment and finally I couldn't stand it anymore. "We need to decide what we are going to do here. Otherwise, this is going to become really awkward. I don't want that." 

Everyone was silent for a few more seconds and then Scully said. "I need to say something to you two." 

We both looked at her expectantly. "Of course, what you decide to do is totally your decision. It's about what you two are comfortable with. However, since you must be gentle with me ... that doesn't mean there aren't other ways for you to relieve your sexual urges of a rougher nature." 

She looked first at me and then at Walter. Walter asked, "What are you saying?" 

"I'm saying that I get very excited by watching you two next to each other. I don't think there's a darn thing wrong with it. It's just another way to express your sexuality. I know you are both a tad on the macho side and maybe that's holding you back." 

We both smirked, knowing that was probably true. But I was secure in who I was as a man now for maybe the first time in my life. Scully had done that for me, brushed away all those insecurities. I knew I was a hot-blooded individual with a more than healthy sexual appetite. I didn't need to prove that to anyone, not anymore. I wondered though, how secure Walter was with his male ego. Did he think being with me would make him less of a man? 

I'd balked at first, but couldn't deny that the idea was titillating. This had to do with expressing affection and desire and sexuality. And Scully was right; it was just another way to do that. I hadn't had much time to think about it. I thought of all the new things I could try and what an adventure it would be for me. It was a whole new world of experiences that I might be able to enjoy. 

She finally continued, "So ... if you two wanted to explore that, you could." 

"What about you?" Walter asked. 

"I'll be there. I want to make love to, but I'd be lying if I said the idea of you two together didn't excite the hell out of me. I could always use toys. That's what toys are for too, and lord knows, we have plenty of them!" 

We both chuckled, knowing how true that was. I stared at Walter and found him staring back at me. Scully was quiet as well and finally said, "Any fantasies, Mulder?" 

I glanced at her. "Yeah, I'm starting to develop them." 

Walter chuckled, low and surprised as he looked at me. He swallowed and said, "That might work." 

"What?" Scully asked. 

"I could stay away from you until the baby is born ..." 

I finished, "But still be a part of this ... thing we're developing." 

"Thing?" Scully inquired. 

I took a deep breath. "Relationship. It's a relationship, no matter how you slice it." 

Walter nodded. "Yes, it is. And I want to be part of it, but I ... know I'm here for ... I don't know. I'm the outsider. You two are in love with each other." 

"Yes we are. Are you wanting that for yourself?" Scully asked. 

He looked at the carpet. "I think about it sometimes, what I'm missing. It would be nice to come home to someone ... have a woman to support me and share things with." 

I cleared my throat and he looked up at me. "What about Sydney?" 

"Sydney?" he asked. 

"The woman you were with that started all this," I clarified. 

Scully raised an eyebrow but otherwise was silent. 

Walter swallowed. "She's a hooker, Mulder." 

"She's a woman, Walter. One that obviously feels very deeply for you. And she said straight out that she would leave the business for you." 

"I'm not sure I could do it," he replied. 

"Never know until you try." 

"I could mess her up worse if I try and don't feel anything, or end it after she's left." 

"I doubt it. First of all, it's never a bad thing to bring someone in off the streets, regardless of what else happens. Second, you care about her, I know you do." 

"Yeah, but ..." 

"What's the problem? Would you have trouble getting past her ..." 

"Profession?" he volunteered. "Maybe, I don't know. That's not it though." 

"There's nothing wrong with that woman, Walter. She's probably out there because she has to be, not because she wants to be." I paused. "Is she on drugs?" 

"No!" he cried. "That's one thing she told me she was determined to avoid." 

"Good, then cleaning her up in that regard isn't an issue." 

"What do I do?" 

"Talk to her first, find out what skills she has, if any." 

"Besides ..." 

I rolled my eyes at him. "Obviously, besides that. I mean, can she type? Can she answer phones? Is she computer literate? Go from there. Help her get a job. If she doesn't have skills, help her get some training through unemployment. And there are centers out there that specialize in helping people like her retrain and get off the street." 

"I should try to help her." 

"And it would give you something to think about besides us," Scully supplied. 

I added, "And something to go to if we don't work out for whatever reason." 

"Would I tell her about you two?" he asked. "I mean she knows about Scully." 

"But not about your new relationship with us," I said. 

Scully shook her head. "Not right away. Maybe later, but not at first. You'd have to get to know her as a person and feel her out first. Does she get jealous? Stuff like that. That would be far down the road." 

"I doubt she has any sexual hang ups," he offered glibly, a smirk on his face. 

Scully clucked her tongue. "Just because she does things, doesn't mean she likes them, Walter. Be very careful about making assumptions where she is concerned. If you are going to do this, keep an open mind and let her tell you things. Get to know her as though she was a stranger. Be her friend first." 

"That will be hard. I have a difficult time keeping my hands off her." 

"Doesn't mean you can't hit the sheets. I just mean, don't let that be the entire basis for your relationship." 

"Like it is for me with you guys?" he joked. 

Scully's face dropped, and I jumped in quickly. "You don't mean that." 

He lost his grin. "No, I didn't. I didn't mean that the way it came out. I care deeply for both of you. You have to know that." 

Scully smiled tentatively again. "Sorry, I'm a little sensitive tonight. Guess my emotions are close to the surface." 

"I should go and let you get some rest." 

"Walter, you can tell her about us if you need to. Just be sure she keeps it to herself," I added. 

I didn't stop him this time when he stood up. One look at Scully told me she was exhausted. Walter approached her and leaned down, cupping her face. He spoke softly, looking into her eyes. "You know I care about you. Don't ever think differently. I respect you and I admire you, both of you. I wouldn't have been at that hospital if this was just about sex. You know that, don't you?" 

She nodded, her eyes becoming moist. "Good," he muttered and leaned over to kiss her forehead chastely. "I need to do a lot of thinking. I'll be in touch. I need a few days to think about all you've said and consider the options here." 

We both nodded. "Take your time, Walter, but don't shut us out, all right? Keep talking to us." 

He nodded. "I will. I'll show myself out," he added as I made to rise. I settled back down and he walked out into the hall. We were silent as we listened to the front door close behind him. A few moments later, the sound of his car starting up and backing out of the driveway invaded the living room. We listened, as the sound of his car became just a faint memory. 

Scully looked at me. "So much for spending the weekend together. Why do I feel like I'm not going to see him again for a long time?" 

I just looked at her. "We'll have to see him on Monday." 

"Not if he wants to avoid us." 

"I don't think he will." 

"How do you know?" 

"Just a feeling. I think he's astonished that we don't blame him for this. I think he's still a little overwhelmed with the whole thing, our acceptance, ... and now this. He needs to time to process it all and we need to give him that time, Scully." 

She nodded. "I know. What about you?" 

"What about me?" 

"How do you feel about all this?" 

"Let's put it this way. He deserves to be happy, Scully. And he'll always be sharing you. I have your love. He doesn't. He deserves to find someone that is all his. And I would never stand in the way of that." 

"Neither would I. He's been alone a long time." 

"Exactly, and I think he's very lonely. Easily as lonely as we used to be before we got together." 

She nodded. "God, I hope I never feel that way again." 

"This is purely a sexual release for him. He values your friendship and he respects you on the job but in that bedroom, you are a sexual object to him, a way to release his fantasies and his sexual frustration. I think he needs more than that. I know I do." 

She nodded and said quietly, "Yeah, I see your point." 

I turned and moved her over, lying down on my side with my back to the backrest of the couch. She was on her back and turned to look up at me. I leaned down and kissed her gently. "I love you so much," I whispered. 

"I love you, too, Mulder. This will work out. You'll see." 

I smiled and laid my hand on her still flat tummy. She looked up at me. "We're going to have a baby, Mulder." 

I nodded, responding to the conviction in her voice. "I know." 

"And nothing is going to stop that. I promise. I'll be so careful from now on." 

I leaned in and buried my nose in her hair. "We both will, Baby. We both will. 

* * *

* * *

**PART 3 (NC-17)**  
**WALTER SKINNER'S APARTMENT**  
**ALEXANDRIA, VA**  
**SATURDAY EVENING - 6:00 PM**

I stood in the kitchen looking at her framed in the doorway. I'd called her earlier after much soul searching. She'd given me her beeper number many months ago. I'd told her to dress normally, jeans and a comfortable shirt, no make up. She'd done as I'd asked, obviously a little uncomfortable appearing before me not being all dressed up. 

I smiled at her and picked up the lasagna I'd cooked and set it on the trivet in the middle of the table. I motioned for her to sit down. "What is all this?" she asked, obviously confused. 

"Dinner." 

"I see that, but ..." 

"I'm paying you for the entire evening. I want to have dinner with you." 

She nodded. "I'm hungry." 

"Good. You probably don't eat enough." 

She sat down and waited. I scooped some onto her plate and then onto mine. "Go ahead, dig in," I urged. 

Finally she picked up her fork and knife and cut it into small pieces. I watched as he took her first few tentative bites. She smiled and hummed with pleasure. "God, it's really good, Walt." 

I smiled at her. "I'm glad. Dig in." 

She did, with gusto. And I found myself smiling at her enthusiasm. I wondered when the last time was she'd eaten a good meal. 

She stopped when she caught me watching, looking embarrassed and I delighted in the blush that rose up to her cheeks. "Sorry," she mumbled around her full mouth. 

Without warning, I found myself laughing, a delighted, full belly laugh. She smiled and swallowed. I cut off my laughter and shook my head slightly. "Don't apologize for enjoying my food. That's the best compliment you can give a cook, you know?" 

She smiled. "What are you doing, Walt?" she asked suddenly, her smile fading. 

Mine did too and I met her eyes. "I wanted ... I don't know. I wanted to talk to you, get to know you a little." 

She sat back and smirked. She could look so innocent, sitting there with no make up and her big tee shirt like a cloud around her. She looked like a little girl. But I knew she was no innocent and she'd been around the block more than a few times. 

"Get to know me?" 

"Yeah." 

"What for?" 

I was stung by her immediate skepticism, but realized she probably didn't know how to have any other reaction. After all, all her previous attempts to talk to me had been rebuffed. 

"I've been thinking a lot about what you said," I finally offered. 

She was silent a moment and then said, "I haven't heard from you in two months. I didn't think you were going to call me anymore after that last ... time." 

"You made me feel guilty." 

"Is that why I'm here? Atonement for your being a shit head?" she asked with characteristic bluntness. 

"No." 

"What's this all about?" 

"I want to get to know you. There's no hidden agenda. I think you know I ... find you extremely attractive." 

"But that's not enough? It always was before ... for you anyway." 

"Maybe it's not anymore. Maybe you made me think about what I'm missing. Maybe you made me want to be ... more fair to you, less of a taker." 

She looked at me, silent for a few moments. Then she said, "So ... you can't have her, so you're going to try and make me some substitute?" 

"No! That's just it. That's what you were in the past, a substitute, and I don't want that to be the case anymore, Sydney. I want ..." 

"What?" 

"I don't know! Something different. Something more! I'm trying, dammit!" I was frustrated with my inability to express myself. I don't know why I didn't consider that she would grill me on this. She had every right to be suspicious. 

"You want what?" She paused. "To be my friend?" she asked sarcastically. 

I ignored her tone. "Yes." 

She barked a sharp laugh and sat back in her chair, her hand on her stomach. "You're a piece of work, you know that, Walter?" 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

She stood up and turned to walk away from the table. "Thanks for dinner, Walt. It was delicious. I'll just be going back to my life now." 

I sprung up and grabbed her arm. "Sydney, please, stay with me tonight." 

She turned. "Why? So you can use me like the whore I am and satisfy some twisted fantasy of yours? Sure, if you wanna fuck ... let's fuck? That's what I do, right, Walt? That's all I'm capable of, right, Walt? That's what you pay me for, right? Don't try to pretend its anything else... it hurts too much! Friend! I wanted to be more than you're friend and you stepped all over my heart you callous bastard! Now you want more and I'm supposed to drop what I'm doing and fall at your feet?! 

"You won't even kiss me, you hypocritical asshole! And you expect me to calmly sit here and eat your food and tell you all about myself? Make myself seem like a real person to you? For what? To assuage some misplaced guilt of yours?! Well FUCK you!" 

She spun away and headed for the door. I stomped after her, her little legs no match for my long strides. She yanked the door open just as I arrived behind her. I reached out and slammed it shut with one hand. The other grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. 

"Let me go you bastard!" she nearly screamed. 

I didn't think. I just grabbed her face in both hands and dropped my mouth over hers. One hand slid up to the back of her head, anchoring her against me. I tilted my head to the side and punched my tongue against her teeth. She resisted for a moment, her hands on my biceps and then I felt her go limp beneath my hands and her mouth open. 

I slid my tongue inside and rolled it over hers. Oh God, I was kissing Sydney, for the first time. I'd probably fucked her a hundred times, but we'd never kissed. I'd never let her, because I knew what would happen if I did. She would become a real person to me then, and I hadn't wanted that. I'd been selfish and arrogant, just wanting to assuage my need and my twisted fantasies about Scully. She'd wanted to know about me and I hadn't let her in. 

I groaned as she kissed me back, feeling an electric tingle pass between us. I hadn't even felt that with Scully. 

Our conversation echoed in my head now from two months ago. 

"Why can't I kiss you?" 

"I don't want ..." 

"What?" she asked. 

"It's too personal. I thought that was a rule in your profession." 

"Maybe if you kissed me, I would become a person to you," she said quietly. 

"You are a person to me." 

She opened her mouth and then closed it. "Just not the person you want me to be, right?" 

I'd sighed heavily. "I can't have what I want. You fulfill a need for me. Isn't that enough?" 

"I don't think it is anymore." 

"Then I guess I won't be able to see you anymore." 

"Don't say that!" she cried. 

"We had an agreement." 

"I know, but ..." 

I said, "I can't change that agreement." 

"Why not?" 

"Be real. What are you going to do? Leave your job?" I asked quietly, as if it were the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard. 

She frowned, sighed and then said, "I would for you." 

"You would?" 

She nodded, looking slightly ashamed. I wasn't sure why. "I would leave it for you. But I'll never be pure and untouchable like her. It's not who I am. I'm tired of pretending to be someone I'm not. I'd leave it all behind, but you don't want ME, do you?" 

"In my own way, I do. And she isn't pure, just untouchable." 

"Do you love her?" she asked. 

"I don't know. No, I don't think so. Not the way you mean it anyway. I don't know what I feel. I just know I can't stop ..." 

"Can't stop, what?" 

"Wanting her. She turns me on. My attraction to her is vicious and I can't help it. I can't do anything about it directly though. You look just like her... almost. So you turn me on too, don't think you don't. Plus, I've always had a thing for tiny women ... and redheads too, for that matter. You're both my type." 

"That's all there is to it?" 

"It's not that simple. She's married. I can't have her. I CAN have you. Even if she wasn't married, I couldn't have her." 

"Why not?" 

"Because she's totally in love with her husband, married or not, has been for years. Everyone knows it. And believe it or not, I respect her. I respect him. I consider them friends and confidantes. I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that." 

She'd looked at me then with the saddest expression I'd ever seen and said, "Your loss, Walter. I could be everything for you." And she walked away. 

My hands left her face and head to yank her tee shirt up over her head. Our mouths separated briefly. She gave me a confused look but I descended on her again, not giving her time to think about it. 

I worked her jeans next and felt her hands come up to pull my shirt out of my jeans. We got frantic then, and I knew she'd given in. I stopped her hands as they reached for my pants. 

She frowned. "Not here, upstairs," I ground out. 

She nodded and turned to go there, but I reached down and lifted her into the air. She squealed quietly, but wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. 

I kissed her as I walked carefully up the stairs, years of familiarity keeping me from missing my step. I set her down gently next to the bed and we started to strip away the rest of our clothes. 

When we were naked, she turned around and put her wrists together behind her back in a gesture so achingly filled with trust I almost sobbed. God, she thought I was going to tie her. 

Why wouldn't she? I always had before. My hands came down on her shoulders and I turned her toward me, shaking my head in the negative. 

"Walter ... but ..." she said, obviously confused. 

I just kept shaking my head until our lips met and I kissed her gently again, tenderly and heard an adorable mewling sound from her throat. I tipped her back onto the bed and dragged her to the middle, laying her head on the pillows. 

God, what an ass I'd been. I'd nearly always taken her in the ass. The few times I'd taken her normally, it had been rough and wild, me expunging a gnawing need that I could no longer resist. 

Not this time. 

"Walter ...?" she began. 

I put my fingers over her lips. "Shhh, baby. Just lay back and enjoy." She nodded and I removed my fingers. 

I kissed my way down her body, an unprecedented feeling of joy wash through me when her back arched up as I took her nipple gently in my mouth, tugging gently with my teeth and soothing it with my tongue. 

She moaned, "Oh Jesus, Walter." 

She squirmed as I made my way down her stomach, swirling my tongue in her navel, making her taut stomach muscles quiver at the contact. She was a couple of inches taller than Scully. I'd guess 5' 4", but I realized suddenly, she was smaller. Her hips were smaller, almost boyish, her waistline was smaller, and her breasts were slightly smaller as well, but very full with no sag on her tiny frame. 

I was six foot, two inches tall and towered over her as she lay there on the bed, looking about 16 years old with no make up. One of my thighs was easily as wide as her waist. I felt another rush of arousal and my semi-erect penis surged to fully erect and bumped against her thigh. 

Oh Christ, except for her height, she was smaller than Scully, all over. I began to pant with excitement as I looked at her, realizing perhaps for the first time, consciously anyway, that she was an incredibly beautiful girl. Oh God, I'd always loved tiny women, the tinier the better. It brought out some primal protective instinct in me ... it also made me mad with lust, that feeling of being dominant, feeling like an Amazon fucking a midget, almost like fucking a little girl although thank god I'd never felt any attraction to children. 

No. I loved full breasts and shapely legs and tight butts. Most of all, if I was honest, I loved the feeling of splitting their virgin-like cunts wide open; not to mention how tight they generally were stuffed onto my three and half inch wide, 10 inch long cock. She was a beautiful girl. 

Girl. 

She was a woman, but good lord, she was tiny. I knelt between her legs, bringing my hands to her waist. If I pushed slightly, I could almost touch my fingers as they spanned her tiny waist. "So tiny," I muttered. "I love that you're so small. God it makes me crazy how small you are." 

She smiled serenely up at me. Tentatively, she asked, "Should I turn over?" 

My heart cracked open again as I realized she still thought this was like all the other times I'd taken her from behind, not seeing her face, just her lovely hair and pretending she was someone else. Pretending she was Scully. 

I didn't want that tonight. I wasn't going to fuck her. 

I leaned down and kissed her gently again. I whispered into her ear, feeling her shiver, "No Sydney. Not like that tonight." 

"What then?" 

I pulled back to see her face, her moist blue eyes, so guileless, staring up at me, waiting patiently. I licked my lips and kept whispering, not sure why. "I'm going to make love to you." 

She whimpered and I kissed her again, and then moved down between her legs. I spread her thighs gently and moaned as I saw and then felt the incredible wetness between her legs. 

Without hesitation, I bent into her and gave her entrance an open mouthed kiss, sucking her juices into my mouth. She'd shown me papers earlier. I'd always insisted she present me with medical test results that she was clean. That was the only way I would be with her. I knew it was necessary, but I'd still felt guilty when she'd handed them to me tonight. 

She was on the pill, but I'd always used a rubber anyway. Not tonight. Tonight she was going to feel all of me and I was going to feel all of her. I poked a finger inside and searched the front wall of her vagina. 

I knew I'd found the spot when she shouted, "Oh God, Yes!" and I felt the walls of her little pussy clamp down on my fingers. My dick jumped, anticipating that tightness for itself. I massaged her in small circles and began flicking my tongue over her clit. 

She whimpered again and her hands came down to the side of my head. I raised my eyes to find her staring at me with such a look of amazement and affection that I felt a wave of dizziness. 

I closed my eyes and worked her more vigorously with both my mouth and fingers until she broke apart, wailing and thrashing as her orgasm took her. Her legs pressed to the side of my head like a vice but I didn't mind. I continued to lap her gently as she came down. 

Finally, I crawled up her body, settling myself between her thighs. She opened her eyes, looking stunned. As selfish as I'd always been, I 'd always tried to give her an orgasm and most times had succeeded, although not always. But it was always born of pure lust and we both knew that. This time, I'd done something purely for her pleasure and she was obviously stunned. 

I smiled gently at her and began to kiss her again. I broke the kiss as she snaked a hand between us and cupped my erection, now aching it was so hard. 

I hissed and looked down at her. I realized just how degrading it must have been for her when I called her Scully all the time, pretending she was someone else. Not anymore. I tried out her name. "Sydney, Sydney," I muttered, liking the way it sounded rolling off my tongue. 

"What?" she asked playfully. 

"I missed you. I want you." 

"You've always wanted me," she said a bit smugly but I could detect the sadness in her eyes. 

"Not like this," I whispered. "I want YOU, Sydney." And she nodded, understanding. There would be no pretending she was someone else. I wanted her, not a fantasy version of Scully. I meant it with every fiber of my being and it surprised me. Her eyes pooled with wetness and I leaned down to kiss the moisture away. 

She was panting delicately as I towered over her. She took a deep breath, "Do you have your condom?" 

I shook my head and her eyes widened. "Not tonight, Sydney." 

"But you always ..." 

"You wouldn't lie to me would you?" 

She shook her head vigorously. "I protect myself. I always make them wear a condom. I just got tested last week. I'm clean as a whistle." This was all said in a rush. 

I smiled at her. "Then I trust you." 

That brought a sob from the back of her throat and I kissed her again, my hand sliding down to her hip. I felt a wave of tenderness and I punched gently and felt the head of my cock slip inside her. 

Her muscle spasmed tight around my cock head and I groaned. Dear God, she was so small, definitely smaller than Scully, inside and out. Why hadn't I noticed this? Probably because I was too busy enjoying the particular tightness of another orifice in the past. 

I sighed and eased my way in. She took me steadily until I was three quarters of the way in and then drew in her breath sharply. "My God, Walter. It's been so long. I forgot how huge you are." 

I didn't respond, just feeling a warm tingle from her nervous excitement as it translated to me. I slid my hand down her leg and lifted from under her knee, raising her leg up towards her shoulder. 

This tipped me to one side, but I slid inside further, taking my time and feeling her muscles wave around my engorged flesh. I groaned, "Oh Sydney, you feel so good, darlin'." 

She gasped, I suppose from the endearment. Then she said, "I want all of you." 

"In a second, take it slow. We have all night." 

She smiled again, looking amazed that this was happening. This was a major thing, and we both knew it. I wasn't fucking a hooker. I was making love to Sydney. Beautiful, young, spirited Sydney. I was practically an old man at 48 and here I was, making love to this young, tiny woman and she was looking at me like I was a God. How old was she? I'd never asked. I guessed in the mid 20s, but she looked like a teenager tonight. 

I could see the light freckles on her cheeks and nose that were normally covered under a heavy layer of make up. I liked her much better without it. She didn't look cheap this way, and there was no mask to hide her face. I closed my eyes against a fresh wave of arousal that left my cock throbbing in hard washing waves. I began to stroke her gently, groaning as her slickness tugged on my turgid flesh. 

"Ohohoh, my God! Ohmygod!" she chanted as I stroked her, slow and deep, taking deep strokes and sliding in a little further each time as her wet tunnel relaxed to admit me. 

"Oh yeah, baby, let me in," I muttered as I continued, putting my elbows on the bed next to her shoulders. 

I kissed her again, deeply, shoving my tongue inside and dancing it around her own. She moaned into my mouth and I kept stroking her, finally feeling myself sink a bit more and my balls slap against her puckering anus. She broke the kiss, throwing her head back and groaning. "Oh Walter, you feel fantastic. Oh, nobody fills me like this, like you do." 

I kissed her cheeks, her jaw, her neck and made my way back up to her muttering lips, never breaking my soft, slow rhythm. I lowered my body, letting my chest hair drag across the tightened nubs of her breasts. She shuddered from head to toe and groaned, low and sexy in the back of her throat, her hands running up and down my biceps. "Sweet Jesus, Walter." 

"Feel good, Baby?" 

"Oh God, you have no idea." 

"I want to make you come again," I whispered. 

She whimpered. "I'm close. Oh you fill me so good." 

I sped up slightly but kept my strokes deep, dragging out the contact to the last moment and then sliding back into her nubile, young body. "Yeah, that's it, beautiful, that's it," I cooed to her as I watched her face begin to contort from the pleasure. 

I sucked her bottom lip into my mouth, running my tongue over it. She moaned and then said, "Oh yeah, Oh god, make love to me, oh please, keep making love to me." Her voice held a plaintive sound, almost a whine and I felt my chest constrict with emotion and my eyes sting with tears as I realized how much this meant to her. No one ever made love to her. They just used her. She probably had no idea what it meant to be loved, really loved. 

Loved? I pushed that thought to the back of my head and decided to examine it later. 

Her ankles crossed at the small of my back and she began lifting her pelvis, trying to impale herself on my cock. It changed our angle slightly and I felt a hot rush around my cock. 

She cried out, "Oh God, I'm coming!" 

I began slam into her then and felt her tunnel grip and release me in a series of rapid convulsions. I put one hand down and gently pinched her nipple, causing another wail and a second round of spasms. 

Amazingly, I was not ready to come and I didn't stop, but slowed down again, kissing her and beginning to build her back up again. She was panting, "So good, never been this good. So good, can't believe you're still hard." 

I muttered, "So hard, so fucking hard, just for you, Sydney. God, you're so tiny, so beautiful." I remembered the incredible feel of Scully's double climax, clitoral and cervical, squeezing my prick and was seized with the mad desire to feel it again... with Sydney, who was even smaller and tighter than Scully. 

I don't know if she realized she still hadn't taken all of me, only about eight and half of my ten inches. I was stretching her so wide open that I could feel my cock brush her baby soft thigh as it retreated. Her pelvis would ache tomorrow. That thought gave me another rush of pleasure. 

"Sydney, I want you to take all of me." 

"Yeess!" she hissed. 

"I wanna take you inside, push through into your womb. Has anyone ever done that?" 

She shook her head frantically. 

"I'm gonna make you come again and then I'll do it, take your inner cherry while you're coming. It will make it easier, but it still might hurt," I warned her. I was obsessed with feeling that feeling again. I wanted it with a desire that bordered on insanity. 

"S'Okay," she slurred. "Do it, lover." 

I moaned with her acquiescence and slid a hand under her low back, anchoring her to me as I thrust into her hard, rolling her clit between us. She began to gasp and groan with every stroke. I slid my hand down between her cheeks and pressed on her anus. That was all it took and she was climaxing for the third time. "I want to possess you, Sydney!" 

My arm banded around her waist, leaving her butt as I slammed into her, nailing her to the mattress and shoving hard at the end of my strokes. Her clinging walls felt divine as she whimpered, "Oh God, Walt. It's not stooppiinngg!" 

I jostled her, hooking her knees over my elbows as I bent her in half and towered over her. I roared with lust and determination and hammered into her brutally, feeling her cervix finally give way after spasming against the head of my cock. I plunged through her opening, grinding my hips into her thighs, angling for every last smidge of depth. I held still. Now that I was in I didn't want to be too harsh with her. I'd had to hit her hard to get inside. 

She cried out, "Ahhhh, shit! No one's ever been so deep!' 

Then I just rocked my shaft back and forth gently about an inch or so, feeling the ridge of my cock head catch on her tight cervical muscle, and stretch it. Then I would rock back in. I didn't want to be too rough with her and hurt her. Scully got off on a certain amount of pain, but I really didn't know if Sydney did. I panted out, "So tight, you're so fucking exquisite Sydney." 

She whimpered, "Oh God, Oh God, so huge, oh Jesus, feels like you're splitting me in two." 

"Too much?" I gasped, feeling sudden remorse that I may have hurt her when I wanted this to be a special time between us. 

"No! Feels so good, hurts so good. Do it, Walter. Break me open. I want to feel you in my throat." 

As good as that suggestion sounded, I really didn't want to hurt her. I couldn't resist increasing the tempo a bit though. I rocked a little harder, bringing her hips up off the bed and she began to break apart. 

She screamed, but not in pain and I felt it begin. Her cervix convulsed in hard, slow waves, squeezing the end of my dick like a cock ring. 

"Feels so good, Sydney. I'm fucking your little womb." 

I bellowed and pressed my balls against her ass as she jerked beneath me like she was having a seizure. I was losing control, despite my resolve not to. "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, have to take you harder!" 

"It's all right! Bury yourself, Walter! Awww, Jesus, it's impossible! I'm still ccoommiinngg!" 

I lost it completely and began drawing back until the head of my shaft rested inside her and then plunging to the bottom of her canal, and jerking my hips up at the end of the stroke, poking my rock hard meat through the entrance to her uterus. I let out an incoherent roar each time I felt myself slide past that tight, resisting barrier and felt it wrap tightly around the head of my cock. "Oh, Sydney! You're mine! You're mine! You're tiny little cunny is MINE!" I shouted. 

I felt my cock sting as it swelled with the force of my ejaculation. I emptied into her, groaning like a dying man. I felt my balls spasm and empty deep into her belly as her cervix squeezed my cock head. I retreated from her womb but stayed inside her. We panted into each other's necks, slick with sweat. I miraculously hadn't gone soft. What the fuck? That hadn't happened since I was a teenager ... staying hard after an ejaculation. 

She moaned again. I rolled over and she straddled my thighs. "Ride me, Sydney. I want to watch myself disappear into your tiny body. I wanna watch your little body impaled on mine." 

I watched her and played with her breasts as she rode me, first slowly and languidly but then increasing her speed until she was impaling herself on my rock hard cock. She would rise up, exposing the full bloom of my shaft before slamming herself back down, engulfing it in hot, tight velvet. I couldn't believe I was still so hard. 

She was stretched now and sopping wet, allowing her to sink down all the way with relative ease, although I could feel the snugness still. I wasn't going through her cervix now but I was stretching the membrane to the limit as she seated herself against me. 

She leaned down, pushing herself back onto me and rocking harshly. I panted as I rested, letting her do the work. Sweat had broken out on her brow and tiny tendrils of auburn hair stuck to her forehead. I tenderly brushed them back and tucked her hair behind her ears. She smiled at me, the most genuine joyful smile I'd ever seen on a woman and I groaned at the sight of it, feeling my nuts spasm and pull up tight to my shaft. I could feel her walls vibrating against my turgid flesh as a suction was created each time she lifted off me. 

"Looks so good, Baby. Yeah, that's it. Ride me. Oh, your little puss is quivering. Feels great. Oh, I'm close baby. We're so good together. You're gonna make me come again." 

"Yes, Walter. Yes, come for me, comeforme, comeforme!" she chanted, as she sped up and began lifting herself again, and slamming her velvet vice-like walls around my towering hard on. 

I shouted and felt my balls swell and ache as they filled with burning come. My hands slid from her breasts to her hips, helping her lift and fall. The backs of my legs tingled as I began to thrust up, meeting her half way and jarring her small body as she landed on top of mine. 

Her small hands rested on my chest for leverage and she began pinching both nipples simultaneously. I shouted incoherently, "Aaaaahhhhh, shiiii, Syyyddd....oh God, baby, YES, YES, YES!" 

I shuddered violently as the first rush of cum raced up my shaft and sprayed large ropey strings inside her welcoming body like a high-pressure hose. My hands held her down at the waist, my cock fully embedded as it throbbed and she squeezed her muscles milking me for every last drop. 

I collapsed in a boneless heap and she sprawled across my chest. Her whole body fit on top of mine. I was so much broader and wider than her. Her small hips rested against the inside of my hipbones and I cupped her ass pressing my still semi-hard prick inside her as I ground against her and shivered with aftershocks. She hummed with contentment and then raised her head. 

I kissed her nose and she giggled and then gave me a beautiful smile again. She rolled off to my side and lay on her back. I levered up onto my side and draped my arm over her tiny waist. Still tentative, she reached up for the back of my neck and slowly drew me down toward her. I had a strong sense of dj vu. The last time I'd pulled away. Was she testing me? I would pass this time. I could see she still wasn't sure if I would resist like I had the last time. 

I merely let her pull me down till our lips brushed and her hot, moist breath mingled with mine. I heard her sigh in relief and she suckled first my top and then my bottom lip. I moaned softly and pulled her body up against mine. God I felt good! I heard the words coming out of my mouth, "God, I feel so good right now." 

She smiled. "Me too. Walter ... damn ..." 

"Yeah?" 

"That was ... absolutely ... incredible." 

I looked at her tenderly. "You were incredible," I countered. 

"No, I mean ..." 

"Shhh, don't analyze it Syd. Just go with it." 

She looked sad for a moment but then nodded. 

I pulled back and met her eyes again. "If you need to say something, say it." 

"Where is this going?" she asked and then winced as if she knew she plunging headlong into a dangerous situation. 

"Someplace wonderful, I hope." 

She looked at me fearfully, but with hope in her eyes. She licked her lips. "Define this wonderful place," she said quietly. 

I sighed and laid down on my back and pulled her up to snuggle against my side. After a moment she said, "You don't have to answer that." 

I squeezed her to me and said, "I will. I'm just trying to find the words." 

"Something happened to you, didn't it?" 

"Yes." 

"What was it?" 

I hesitated. Mulder and Scully had told me I probably shouldn't tell her right away about my relationship with them. They were probably right but I couldn't come up with another way to explain this. And if I wanted a relationship with Sydney that was worth a damn, I needed to be totally honest with her. 

"I found out some things about Mulder and Scully." 

She raised an eyebrow when I looked down at her but said nothing. 

I continued. "They have a unique lifestyle outside of the office." 

"Like what?" 

"They engage in role play or a ... D/s relationship. Do you know what that is?" 

She gave me a 'you've got to be kidding look' and nodded in the affirmative. "Are you forgetting whom you're talking to?" she asked. 

"No, I'm not, I just ... just because you do ... what you do ... doesn't mean your familiar with the other lifestyles out there ... not the healthy ones anyway." 

She smiled. "I'm very familiar with them. I've been invited in on them from time to time. Not all my clients have been singles." 

I nodded, feeling a twinge at that admission. I knew where she'd been, vaguely, but maybe my imagination was worse than the reality. Then again, maybe not. Clients. It was such a cold word. Right now, I was a client, but I knew I meant more to her than that. I couldn't fault her for having all those emotional walls. 

I shook my head to clear the cobwebs. "Well that's sort of what happened." 

"What do you mean?" 

"I got invited in." 

She lurched up onto her elbow and looked down at me. "You're kidding, as a third?" 

I nodded. 

She swallowed harshly. "So you got to be with her after all." She paused, her face a mask of sadness. "No wonder you haven't called me." I could tell that bothered her more than she was willing to say when she turned her face away from me. 

I turned to her. "It was over a month since I last saw you before they asked me. I hadn't called because ... I was afraid of the things I was starting to feel for you. And they found out about you. I didn't want you get hurt. At first, I didn't know how they would react." 

"How did they find out?" 

"They found one my tapes." 

"And they watched it?" 

I sighed. "I was attacked. Somebody broke in here and I surprised them." 

"Walter! Were you hurt?" 

"A little. Mulder and Scully came to help. Scully patched me up and they had friends sweep for bugs. They found my camera." She knew that I had taped her, had consented to it beforehand. Somehow I couldn't bring myself to do it without her knowing. 

She just stared waiting for the rest of the story. 

"I went last week, on a Friday. I was with her on Friday and Saturday, always with him there. And then again yesterday." 

"That's all?" she asked curiously. 

I nodded. "Yeah." 

"Do you plan on going back?" 

"I don't know." 

"Was it good?" she asked, in a detached sort of way. 

"Physically, it was mind blowing." 

She closed her eyes and sighed. "Then what's the problem?" 

"Several things." 

"Gonna tell me about them?" 

"Are you sure you want to hear it?" 

"I ... yes, I need to hear it ... if we are going to keep seeing each other." She hesitated but then admitted, "It shouldn't matter to me, ... but it does. I feel like if you can have the woman of your fantasies, you wouldn't want me anymore." 

I wondered if she meant as a client. I would have to get to the part about her quitting the street real soon. But not yet. "She's pregnant." 

"Oh God," she whispered. 

"Yeah, and I guess I took her a little rough yesterday and she broke a blood vessel in her ... vagina. She hemorrhaged and we thought she was going to lose the baby." 

Sydney's hand came up to her mouth. "Oh Jesus, Walter. I'm so sorry." 

"She didn't, but it was a scare all right. They don't blame me. I can't imagine why, but they don't." 

"Because they know you and they know you would never intentionally harm her. If they thought that, you never would have been invited to join them in the first place." 

I stared at the ceiling. "There's more." 

She leaned down and kissed my cheek. "Tell me." 

"She loves him, so much it's scary. I mean she places total, absolute trust in that man to protect her, to make sure nothing happens to her." 

"Do you think her trust was shaken?" 

"It didn't seem to be, but I guess only time will tell. They need to be gentle for the rest of her pregnancy." 

"And that's not what you want." It was statement. 

I looked at her again. "I can be gentle," I said, sounding hurt to my own ears. 

She smiled. "I know you can. You just proved that." 

I smiled again. "It's not the gentle part that bugs me." 

"What then?" 

"As good as it was, I'd always be the outsider. I'll always be the third. I'll always be ... sharing her with the permission of Mulder." 

"Ah," she said softly. 

"Not that the sex isn't great, and not that I don't genuinely care for both of them, but I don't love them. Sooner and later ... that won't be enough. I need something more." 

"Like what?" 

"Someone that is just mine, that I don't have to share, not their love anyway. Physically, with you, the sex is just as mind blowing," I said quietly. "But with you, there's something else, Sydney. Something that isn't there, even with Scully, despite our friendship." 

She looked at me strangely then. "Is that why I'm here? I win by default?" 

I looked down the length of my body, not sure what to say next. "No, Sydney ..." I began. 

She held up a hand to stop me. "Walter, ... you know I care for you more than any man I've ever known. God knows why, you've always treated me like shit." 

I chuffed a sound of agreement. 

"Physically, with you, the sex is just as mind blowing, Sydney." 

She looked at me, obviously skeptical. 

I said quietly, "But with you there's something else, something more than physical. And I'm so sorry I've treated you like shit." 

"Well, you did and you didn't. You saw me as an object of your fantasies, but you still never hurt me. You were rough, but you were always careful to not hurt me. Plus, you made sure most times that I found pleasure when we were together. Do you know how rare it is for me to feel pleasure with a man?" 

I looked at her. 

There was moisture in her eyes. "Most men are in it for themselves. They don't care about me... and why should they? I'm a prostitute. That's what I'm here for, to fulfill their needs, not the other way around." 

"Doesn't seem very fair." 

"It's not, but that's reality. I chose to do this to survive so I can't kick and make a fuss or cry 'why me'? Why not me? I made my bed, so to speak, and now I have to lie in it." 

"Why did you start?" 

"My parents are strict Catholics. They found out I was sleeping with my boyfriend and they kicked me to the curb. I was sixteen years old. I snuck back into the house when they weren't there, packed as much of my stuff as I could and never looked back. My boyfriend told me he wasn't going to date a homeless person. Nice, huh? 

"I moved from Maryland down here and I was ... starving, living in shelters for a couple of years. I had odd jobs cleaning houses here and there but once they knew I didn't have a home, they would give me the boot. I lived in nasty hotels that would let you pay by the day. If I had the money, I slept there. If not, I crashed on a bench in the train station. This went on for a couple of years. 

"I kept thinking I was going to get a decent job and be able to get an apartment. I never had enough all at once. So, one day I was walking to the shelter to get some lunch. I was broke. I think I had 55 cents in my pocket. This guy stopped me on the street. He offered me $25 for a blowjob." 

I cringed, but remained silent. If she going to open up, I wasn't go to interrupt her. My conversation with Mulder and Scully came back to me then about her doing this because she had to, not because she wanted to. 

"I was desperate and depressed and figured, why not? I can't get pregnant from that. Of course, I wasn't thinking about disease at the time. So I followed him to this fleabag hotel and I ... did what he wanted. He liked it so much that he gave me $35. I took the money and went to Wendy's. I gorged myself on a hamburger and the salad bar and a baked potato. I felt better than I had in days. I felt dirty and guilty but ... I wasn't hungry anymore. 

"Soon after, I was walking to the shelter again and I was approached by Carlos. He said 'a friend' had told him I gave terrific head. Ha! He said it like I should have been preening under the compliment. But he said a girl couldn't work alone. I could work for him and he would protect me." 

She paused, looking like she felt stupid for accepting his offer. 

"The rest is history. Then I got an apartment, which he paid for until I could pay him back. I got used to the money, Walter. It's a hard thing to give up. I make more in one night than I could make in a week as a bag girl or something." 

I rolled up onto my side and she lied down on her back, staring up at me, looking so sad again. I didn't like that expression of melancholy on her face that she wore so often. Now that I thought about it, it had always been there. 

"How old were you?" 

"When I started hooking?" 

I nodded. 

"Nineteen." 

"How old are you now?" 

"Twenty-four. I know now that the price is high and this life isn't what I want for myself and that it's dangerous. But I just don't know what else to do now." 

I took a deep breath. Now was the time. "Sydney, you deserve so much more than you have. I want you to quit," I said softly. 

Her eyes got wide and she said nothing for a moment and then she licked her lips, an incredulous look on her face. "And do what?" she asked. 

"I'll help you." 

"I don't know how to do anything, Walter." 

"Have you ever used a computer?" 

"No." 

"Do you know how to type?" 

"No." 

I sighed. "I can get you some training through unemployment." 

"And what do I use to pay the rent in the meantime, genius?" she asked, her world-weary persona showing through again. 

"Nothing. You could stay here. You could waitress in the meantime or something. Anybody can do that. And if you don't have rent, waitressing should give you enough money to live on till we found you some training." 

Now her jaw dropped open. "You can't be serious ..." she said, her voice trailing off. 

"You said you would leave the job for me." 

She shook her head. "I guess I did, but I never thought it was ..." 

"Something I'd take you up on?" I volunteered. 

"I meant it at the time." 

"And now?" 

She looked at me, her eyes pooling with wetness. "I don't know. Why do you want to help me?" 

"Because I care about you," I stated simply. 

"Not cause you want a free piece of ass?" she tried to joke, but it fell flat. 

I shook my head. "No, I can have that now, remember? If I wanted it," I added, implying that I didn't. I would always be attracted to Scully but the same was true with Sydney. They were both just my type. There was a vulnerability to Sydney that drew me like a magnet. Under all that false bravado was a scared little girl that wanted to be taken care of. Something about that appealed to my inner caveman and I was helpless against the pull of it. Scully was submissive by choice. That was a role she adopted because of her trust in Mulder, not her trust in me. I didn't necessarily want a submissive woman, but I wanted someone that would trust me and love me. Scully would never love me. And I would never love her. Those were just the facts. I knew deep down, although I'd been scared to face it, that I could fall in love with Sydney. 

She nodded and looked away quickly. I reached out and tipped her chin back towards me with two fingers. 

"Sydney, I don't know all the reasons why I want to help you. I haven't worked it all out yet. I'll be honest. I just know that I do. I know that I feel like shit every time I watch you leave and know you could be in danger. I know I feel like shit for treating you like a ..." 

"Whore?" she volunteered, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly like she was amused. "Like an object for my use with no feelings. And I'm sorry about that. More sorry than you'll ever know." 

"I don't want your pity, Walter. I don't deserve it." 

"It's not pity." 

"Oh no?" 

"No ... I didn't want to ... I'm mad at myself, but I do care about you Sydney ... more than a little. I really do." I paused and then said, "I don't want you to leave. It scares the hell out of me, but ... I'm falling for you." 

She stared at me again, licking her lips. "You're a strange man, Walter." 

"Yeah, well, no one ever accused me of being normal," I said dryly. 

She laughed then, and the clear tinkling sound of it washed away the last of my doubts and indecision. 

"Let me help you, Sydney," I whispered. 

* * *

* * *

**PART 4 (NC-17)**  
**WALTER SKINNER'S APARTMENT**  
**ALEXANDRIA, VA**

She nodded. "Walter, this isn't as simple as it may seem. I can't just leave." 

"Why not?" 

"I'm not ... independent." 

"You mean you have a pimp," I said, cringing at the thought of retribution she would receive if she tried to leave. God, I'd never even asked about that in all the time I'd been seeing her. 

She nodded. "He wouldn't be pleased. He gets ... about 50% of everything I make." 

"Fifty percent!" 

She smiled. "Yeah, and I make a lot of money, especially from people like you that want me for a whole evening. He doesn't have many girls with customers like that. It keeps me in his good graces. Where do you get all that money anyway?" 

"I don't have a lot to spend it on these days. This isn't insurmountable, Sydney. We'll just have to take him down." 

"Take him down? Are you crazy? Who do you think you are? Rambo? The man is a pimp. He has bodyguards and guns. What the hell can you do? What are you going to do? Call the fucking police? Then I get arrested for prostitution!" 

I smiled, realizing with a flash that she had no idea what I did for a living. I'd never told her. I'd talked about the office, but that was it. She probably thought I was a businessman of some kind. 

"Have you ever been arrested for soliciting?" 

"No, and I'm proud to say I've avoided that fate. I'm very careful on the streets and I stay away from the areas that the beat cops patrol." 

"Good, without a record, I can protect you from a first time offense." 

She scrunched her brow. "You sound awfully confident. What are you? Some rich guy with connections?" 

"I'm not rich, but I do have connections." 

"To judges?" 

"In the FBI." 

"The FBI! Are you fucking nuts!?" She tried to sit up abruptly but I held her down with a hand on her shoulder. 

"Calm down, Sydney." 

"Calm down! I'm a fucking hooker! Do you know what the FBI could do to me? Mix me up in trying to take him down in exchange for a lighter sentence! I could get killed!" 

Calmly, I said, "Nobody is going to get killed and I can keep you out of it completely." 

She was unnaturally still for several long moments, staring at me as if I had two heads. Finally she whispered, "I'm having an awful feeling here. What do you do for a living?" 

I slowly let a smile creep across my face. "I'm an Assistant Director with the FBI." 

"WHAT!?" she screeched. This time I didn't stop her as she sat up and leaped off the bed, searching the floor for her clothes. I slowly slid off my side of the bed, still nude, and went around to her. She was clutching her underwear and jeans to her chest. Her tee shirt and bra were downstairs on the living room floor. 

I placed my hands on her shoulders and she froze looking up at me with a frightened expression. Tears pooled in her eyes and began to pour down her cheeks. "I can't believe you set me up," whimpered. "Not you!" 

Now my face fell. She'd totally misunderstood! "No, Sydney! I've done nothing of the kind! I could lose my job for being with you." 

She just stared at me, her tears drying up, but her bottom lip quivering. "I don't understand what the hell is going on here! You're a fucking cop! Worse than a cop!" 

"I care about you Sydney, probably more than I should. I want to help you, and I have the means to do it! Let me help you for Christ's sake! " 

She stood staring up at me, looking so child like with her clothes clutched to her chest. I could feel her shivering. "Put your pants on. I'll get you a shirt. You're freezing. We'll go downstairs and talk about this some more." 

She nodded numbly, totally overwhelmed and confused and began putting on her underwear. She stopped, "I need the bathroom," she said quietly. 

"Go ahead. You know where it is." 

She nodded again and nearly trotted off to the bathroom next to the bedroom. I heard the water running and went to the closet to get an old dress shirt. I knocked gently on the door and said, "Sydney, I have a shirt for you." 

She cracked open the door and stuck her hand out. I placed the shirt in it and let her pull it in and close the door on me again. I sighed. Through the door I said, loud enough so could hear me. "Sydney, I won't hurt you." I swallowed around the sudden lump in my throat. "I promise I won't hurt you." 

I took a deep breath and decided to give her a few minutes to herself. This hadn't gone as smoothly as I'd hoped. She was suspicious of me now. I supposed in her ... profession ... she had an inbred fear of any type of law enforcement so I shouldn't have been surprised. I'd arrogantly thought she would be impressed. What a jerk. 

I dressed quickly in jeans and a tee shirt, slipping into my moccasins that I used for slippers and went downstairs to put on some coffee. It was going to be a long night and we were going to need it. 

* * *

I walked quietly across the carpet of the living room and stood silently in the doorway to the kitchen. He was standing with his hip against the counter, his arms crossed over his chest. He was staring at the coffee pot as if it held the answers to the universe, a frown pulling his mouth down at the corners. I imagined that scowl had intimidated more than one person in his lifetime. 

FBI. Holy fucking Christ. What had I gotten myself into? How had I not known he was a cop? There was no point in running. If I even made it out the front door, he'd hunt me down. He'd sounded so upset when he'd said he wouldn't hurt me. 

Could I believe him? What the hell would a cop ... excuse me, an Assistant Director with the FBI, want with me? I wondered. He was a good-looking man, certainly buff, or fit, as the kids said today. He had a body to die for. What the hell was wasting his time for with a hooker anyway? 

He could probably have a lot of women. He certainly lived nicely enough. He was a tough guy, very masculine. He was obviously used to getting his own way. However, he could be tender and caring also. I'd seen that too. 

I'd asked myself that question before. I'd known about his fantasies and just figured this was his way of not getting involved with anyone. Like most men, I figured he was probably commitment phobic. Not that I was one to talk. Being a hooker didn't exactly pave the way for lasting relationships. 

But he'd gotten under my skin. I couldn't deny it. Yes, he'd had his twisted little fantasies about that woman, Scully he called her. But I'd known men a lot more twisted than Walter, with much sicker fantasies. Walter was a lot of things, but I'd never thought of him as sick. And he wasn't cruel. Despite his acting out his fantasies with me, he'd never hurt me, and he'd actually been a pretty considerate lover. I'd been with more men than I could count in the five years I'd been doing this and Walter was the only one that ever tried to tend to my pleasure. 

He was the only one that actually tried to make me come. No one else ever had bothered. With everyone else, I faked it. I'd never really understood his motivation. It was foreign to me. Maybe that's why I'd been so drawn to him, had wanted to get to know him, unlike my other customers. 

Not because I was craving for an orgasm but because I was stunned by his desire to make me enjoy myself. 

Scully. It was weird that he called her by her last name. Then again, maybe not, kept her at a distance. I knew she worked for him. 

Shit! Did that mean that this Mulder and Scully were FBI agents too? Jesus! She could be a secretary, but the way he talked about her, I doubted it. He had said she was brilliant. That wasn't an adjective you normally attached to a secretary. 

He looked up then and saw me standing there. He smiled sadly. I held my arms out to my side and shrugged. I was swimming in his dress shirt. It hung to my knees like a dress. I felt pretty stupid, but I saw his eyes travel over me and his eyes sparked with pleasure. I realized he liked the way I looked. I couldn't imagine why. I wasn't wearing a speck of make up and I was sporting old, worn out jeans and dress shirt about ten sizes too big. 

Then I remembered his comments about my size. Apparently, the man liked tiny women. Whether that was in general or because of his fascination with Scully, I didn't know. My mind was swirling with questions, so I figured I'd let him start this conversation. 

"You wanted to talk, so talk," I said finally. 

"You look better in that shirt than I do," he said gruffly. 

I smiled and shook my head in bemusement. "It's nearly a dress." 

"I know. You look so tiny in it. Just the sight of you sometimes ... Jesus." 

He swallowed heavily and waved me back into the living room. He followed a minute later with two cups of coffee. We sipped gingerly as we sat on opposite ends of the couch turned toward one another. He pulled a leg up onto the couch and I mimicked his position. He smiled sadly again, bringing his hand up to rest under his chin, his elbow propped on the back of the couch. 

"I've been an ass, Sydney." 

I decided I'd keep my comments to myself about that one. 

"This started out as one thing but it's turning into something else. I'm not even sure I understand it myself. I've handled this all wrong. Yes, there's some guilt involved." 

"Walter," I interrupted. "You don't need to feel guilty. That's what hookers are for." 

He winced and made a face. "You're more than a hooker, Sydney." 

"Am I?" 

He looked at me sharply then. "Yes, you are; to me you are. Are you telling me that there is nothing more to you? That you have no history, no past, no childhood? No dreams?" 

I laughed harshly then. "Yes, I have a childhood, a rotten one. Yes, I have a history, interesting to nobody but myself. As for dreams ... my dreams died a long time ago, Walter." 

He frowned. "First, I think your history would be interesting to me. I think there's a woman under all that make up and attitude that doesn't like who she is and would like to do something different." 

"You think?" I asked sarcastically. 

His bottom lip quivered for a second but then he held it under his top teeth and closed his eyes, sighing loudly. "Look Sydney, could we skip the dispassionate sarcasm for a minute? Can we really talk like adults?" 

I hung my head, not knowing what to say. I was used to keeping my guard up and I didn't know if it was safe to lower the shields, so to speak. He was acting as if my shutting him out hurt him. Could that be true? I didn't owe this man anything, then again, he didn't owe me anything either and he was offering to help me. He was watching me carefully when I looked up from under my lashes at him. He sucked in his breath and I saw the familiar look of desire on his face. 

He closed his eyes against it and opened them again. "Sydney, I want to help you." 

"Why?" 

"Because I care about you. Because you were a fantasy of mine at first, but now you're a woman I care about." 

"Why?" 

"I don't know why!" he cried. He was obviously frustrated. "Jesus! I wish I didn't care sometimes. I wish I could walk away from you with a clear conscious ..." 

"You can," I stated bluntly, interrupting him again. 

"No, I can't," he said simply and stared at me again. "I don't know when it happened, but at some point, I stopped seeing you as ..." 

"Your fantasy?" I volunteered. 

He nodded, looking embarrassed. "The last time we were together, I got upset when you wanted to kiss me." 

"I know," I said, swallowing against the sudden thickness in my throat and wondering about it. What was it about this man that made me so emotional? I wondered. 

"I wasn't mad at you, Sydney." 

"Sure sounded that way." 

"I know. This is where I became an ass. Instead of facing what was really going on, I lashed out at you and made it your fault." 

"What was really going on?" 

"I was angry with myself. I was angry because I couldn't... keep this the way I intended it when it all began, uncomplicated and easy. I was angry because I ... I WANTED to kiss you so fucking badly." 

He broke off and looked at his lap. "Was that so scary?" I asked. 

He looked up at me again. "Yes, it terrified me." 

"Why?" 

"I don't know. Maybe because I knew what you were." 

"A prostitute?" I confirmed. 

He nodded. "I'm not supposed to care, right? I'm not a possessive man, Sydney but think about it for a minute. How bad would it be for me to fall for a hooker? I'm not supposed to want more from you. There was no future in it." 

"More from me?" I asked, slightly bewildered now. He was falling for me? 

He stared at me in silence again until the moment stretched into the uncomfortable zone. I cleared my throat. 

"Yes, I wanted more from you Sydney. I wanted to keep you here. I wanted to kiss you and ask you not to leave. I wanted to ... make a future with you in it. I still do." 

"I told you I'd leave the job for you, didn't I?" 

"Yes ... and that shocked my socks off." 

I smiled. "I don't know why I said it. It seemed right at the time. I believed it at the time. I wasn't thinking beyond the moment." 

"What's changed?" 

"Well, you threw me out for one. I haven't heard from you in weeks for another. And I thought about it afterwards and realized how ridiculous it was to think that I could ... be anything different." 

"Why couldn't you?" 

I chuckled mirthlessly. "Why do you think? I'd just be setting myself up for disappointment. Nobody cares about hookers. Nobody has ever cared about me." 

"I care. I'll help you Sydney." 

"What? In return for freebies?" I snapped out, wincing myself at the harshness of my words. 

He recoiled as if I'd slapped him. His mouth opened and the look of hurt and remorse on his face almost did me in. "Jesus, Sydney, you think that little of me? That's not what this is about!" 

"Then what is it about? What? You want to help me. Why? To appease your guilt over pretending I was someone else and then pushing the real Sydney away? Take it somewhere else, Walter. I don't need your fucking pity. I'm a hooker, you had a fantasy and we played it out. End of story. Nothing complicated about it. I don't hold it against you. I've met men with some sick fantasies. If you must know, yours was rather tame. But that's beside the point. I never asked you to feel sorry for me and I don't want you to now." 

He was shaking his head in the negative. "No Sydney. I want to help you because I care about you. It goes beyond being attracted to you. And even that's changed. I was originally attracted to you because you looked a bit like her and you were my type." 

"What's different now?" I asked. 

"I'm attracted to YOU," he said softly. "Not some vision of Scully. I care about you. It stopped being just about sex and that's what scared me, so I pushed you away. The last couple of times, I pretended like I always had, gone through the motions because I thought that's what you would expect and it was partly habit. But the truth was my anticipation was for you, not Scully. I wanted Sydney." He paused, licking his lips. "I care about you," he repeated. "Why is that so hard to believe?" 

I tipped my head to the side asking a question without saying anything. 

He continued. "I'm not attracted to a vision of Scully anymore, Sydney. I'm attracted to you for you, because you're a beautiful woman and because that conversation we had made me look at my real feelings for you. 

"You'd already stopped being a fantasy. I realized ... I wanted to get to know you. So I stayed away because I thought that was impossible." 

"And it's not now?" 

"No. It was never impossible. It was just about me accepting my feelings and finding the courage to do something about them. Ironically, I think fulfilling my fantasy with Scully was what helped me do that. Even as I told her I'd never had better sex than I'd had with her, your face was floating in my mind and I knew it was a lie as soon as the words were out of my mouth. It had always been just as good with you. But I was friends with Scully and now I realize I want that same connection with you, someone who could share my life with me." 

"So you started seeing me as a person? An individual that you ... liked?" I clarified. 

"Yes, more than liked; as a person with feelings. Feelings I had hurt. Feelings I had tromped in during my selfish quest for sexual gratification. But that's not all of it either. I wanted you to like me and it scared me that I gave a damn what you thought. When I saw you hurting the last time we were together, it nearly ripped my heart out to know I'd been so careless with another human being, with you." 

I didn't know what to say. Prostitutes weren't supposed to have feelings, but I did. I was a prostitute, but he was right. I was a woman too, and a person with feelings. And this man had done something to unbalance me. He made me forget when I was in his bed that he was paying me for this. He made me forget that I was selling my body. He made me feel ... special. That was a dangerous road for me to go down. 

"I don't know if I can trust you." 

"Have I given you a reason not to?" he asked quietly. 

I thought about it for a moment. No, he hadn't. He'd always been straightforward with me. I couldn't confuse that with telling me what I wanted to hear. Just because he'd hurt my feelings, didn't mean he'd been dishonest. He'd been very clear in the beginning, what he wanted and he'd never changed his routine, until the last time. This time. 

This time. Oh boy. 

"I want YOU, Sydney." 

"I'm going to make love to you." 

Damn! What the hell was he doing to me? What frightened me more than anything was that I wanted to believe him. I wanted it so bad I could taste it. I wanted to believe he really cared for me. I wanted to believe that there was a chance I could leave the job and make something of myself. 

"No, I guess not," I said finally. 

The silence stretched between us again. Finally he said, "What do I have to do to convince you that I won't hurt you? That I mean what I say?" 

"Where could this go, Walter? Honestly? Do you actually believe you and I could have a future of any kind?" 

"Why not?" 

I rolled my eyes again in exasperation. He couldn't be that nave, could he? 

"I didn't say it would be easy, Sydney." 

"I'm not even sure what you're asking for." 

He licked his lips as and then said, "I want a relationship with you, Sydney. I want you to be .... My friend, my girlfriend, my lover. I'm sick and tired of being scared by what I feel. I've always had a healthy sexual appetite and slightly off center tastes. The women in my past couldn't handle it, so I suppressed it. So maybe the fact that you are so sexually free is part of the attraction. I know I won't scare you with what I want. But I'm tired of pretending it isn't a part of me. I want to embrace it, be a man about it. But I also want the friendship part too. That's a part of me too. 

"But to have a real relationship ... if that's going to happen, you HAVE to leave the streets. Whatever it takes. I'll help you. I'll take your pimp down. I'll keep you safe here and off the streets. And I'll help you find work or send you to school, whatever." 

"How can I take all that from you? I'll owe you my life," I said quietly. "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that." 

"You're not taking anything, Sydney. I'm giving it to you. I'm offering it. You didn't ask, you're not twisting my arm. And you won't owe me a thing. Even if it didn't work out between us, I would feel good knowing I helped you find another way to live." 

"I have to think about it." 

"I know. I didn't expect you to decide right now. Take the time you need, but really think about it Sydney. I hate that you're in danger every day." 

"Why are you doing this?" I held up a hand to forestall him. "I know. You care about me, but there has to be more to it." 

He smiled softly. "Not really. Well, maybe." 

"The truth, Walter. Don't stop telling me the truth now." 

"Some switch was flipped in the last couple of days, Sydney. I realized that I wanted something more than I could ever have with Mulder and Scully. Something definitely changed tonight too ... between us. I know you felt it. I want to believe you did. I don't want to believe that I felt that all by myself and it was a one way street." 

"Felt it?" 

"This pull between us. I can't stop wanting to touch you. But it's not just the sex. I want to protect you and keep you safe. I think about you leaving and never coming back and I'm ... Jesus, just the thought of it hurts. I want to take the sadness away, Sydney, that I see in your face. 

"I want to make you smile and feel safe and secure. I also want to take down the bastard that put that sadness behind your eyes. Now that I've started, I can't stop thinking about you and all the possibilities for us." 

"Us," I said carefully, ruthlessly suppressing the sting of tears that came with his admission. I blinked rapidly. It hurt him to think that I might not come back? 

"Yes, us. That's what I want, Sydney, an 'us'." 

"What about your ... friends?" 

"I'll straighten things out with them. They are very understanding people." 

I nodded. "Will I have to worry about you with ... them?" 

He smirked then. "Are you jealous?" he asked, seemingly amused. 

I shrugged, feeling stupid. 

"You won't need to be. If I we do this. If we become ... a couple, then I won't see them anymore... not that way, unless we all decided to be together, but that's another issue. However, I have to see them at work." 

"Work. Are they agents too?" 

He nodded. "I'm their boss." 

"Christ on a crutch!" I exclaimed. 

He chuckled, amused by my reaction and I couldn't blame him. "See, we're not all saints and we're not all devils." 

I smiled, realizing that I had made as many assumptions and judgments as he had. "Should I go now?" 

He shook his head. "No, we should have some more coffee." 

"I don't think I want any." 

"You sure?" 

"Yes, I should go." 

"No, you should stay." 

I looked at him debating the pros and cons of staying. His eyes held a sadness and longing I'd never seen before. He was paying me for the night. Then again, now I felt cheap taking his money after all we'd talked about. But if I didn't, Carlos would have my hide. 

As if he'd read my mind, he said, "I'll give you the money for the night. That was the arrangement for tonight. And don't worry about it. We know there's more between us now but that doesn't erase reality. I know you have to pay him." 

I nodded and felt my face screw up into an emotional knot. More between us. Oh God, what the hell was I getting into? 

"Hey, hey, baby, it's going to be all right," he cooed as he slid down to my end of the couch and picked me up by the waist, easily moving me onto his lap, my legs straddling his thighs. 

He called me Baby. No one had ever called me that except in a lewd, suggestive way. His uttering had been an endearment, outside of sex. He held me close. The touch of his hands and the tender brush of his fingers on my back opened a floodgate and I began to sob, much to my chagrin. It was all too much! How long had it been since anyone had given a damn about me? Been tender or comforting to me? I realized that I ached for affection and caring. I was just terrified to accept it. If I did and then it was taken away, I might never recover. He cooed, "Shhh, shhhh, it's all right, Baby. Let it go." 

"Baby?" I repreated, hating the squeaky sound of my voice. 

"You like that?" he asked softly. 

I nodded. "I HATE IT! I HATE MY LIFE!" 

"I know, I know." 

"I hate my fucking life!" I cried between sobs, wondering at this man's ability to strip away all my protective layers and lay me bare emotionally. 

"We'll change it, Sydney, I promise. We'll change it. Just hang in there a little longer." He kissed my tears away, laying butterfly kisses on my eyelids, my nose and finally on my lips, pulling them gently between his. There was no passion in the kiss, just comfort and soothing. 

I nodded and sniffled, my tears finally drying up. 

"I feel so ... dirty and cheap. You deserve better than me, Walter." 

"You're not dirty or cheap, Sydney. You're a woman trying to survive. You've done what you had to do. Now, let's get you tucked into bed. You must be exhausted." 

I nodded and leaned back, hopping off his lap. "I'm sorry, Walter." 

"Don't be. You need to let it out sometime." 

"I'm embarrassed." 

"No need to be embarrassed with me. I'm just going to turn off the coffee pot and I'll meet you upstairs, all right?" 

I nodded numbly and made my way up the stairs towards the bedroom. 

* * *

I was so tired now and struggled to stay awake. He approached the bed gloriously nude. "Sleep now ... Baby," he added with a quirky grin on his face. 

I smiled and flushed, embarrassed by my enjoyment of the endearment. I responded, "No sleeping on the job," I joked, but it fell flat. 

He grimaced, "Sydney ..." 

I cupped his handsome face in my hands. "One more time, Walter. Make me believe in US. Make love to me." 

* * *

I made love to her slowly, gently, as tenderly as I could. She cried silently in my arms as her body rippled through her soft climax. I kissed her tears away, feeling my heart break wide open. Afterwards, she curled into me and fell into a deep slumber. Somehow, she couldn't hide her feelings when we were in bed. She must hide them all the time, so I had to figure that I was affecting her big time for her to let those tears go. 

I watched her sleep, her hand curled under her chin. She looked like a little angel. Twenty-four years old. Shit. I was too old for her. She deserved someone young and vibrant and her own age, but I realized that wouldn't happen for her anyway. Most young men would be unable to see past what she did for a living and realize it was a necessity for her, not her nature. My heart had broken in two when she sobbed in my arms. She'd seemed so fragile in that moment. All my protective instincts had coming rushing to the surface. 

I trailed my fingers through her silky hair and she sighed in her sleep. A plan was forming. I need to talk to Mulder and Scully and see what we could do about taking down this pimp. I knew there was a task force on the D.C.P.D. that was formed to bring down the prostitution trade in the city to a manageable level. I had no idea how successful they were. Maybe with Sydney's inside information, we could feed them information and help bust things up for this guy. 

It would be tricky though. It would leave other girls, I had no idea how many, vulnerable to other pimps if he was taken down. Arrangement would have to be made to help them in some way. 

I sighed loudly realizing this would be a lot more difficult than I had planned. Before now, I would not have considered the girls on the streets and what bringing their pimp down would do to them. I would have thought that their being arrested was a good thing if it got them off the street. I was realizing now that there was a lot more to it than that. These women needed to survive. I would need to check with that task force and see if they had made any provisions for helping the girls that they were trying to pinch off the streets. I doubted it. Until then, how could I keep her off the streets? I wondered. 

I did have some saved money to spend since I lived very frugally, but I wasn't rich. Mulder was though. I wondered if he would give me a loan. Maybe I could have Sydney tell the guy that I wanted her for a week or so and pay her the money that would require. She could pay him in advance and he might leave her alone. That way she could be tucked away here, safe and out of the line of fire. 

I needed to talk to Mulder and Scully. It was late and there was nothing I could do now, but I needed to come up with a plan. I would call them tomorrow and see if they could come over to talk with Sydney and me. I would call the task force on Monday and get the ball rolling. I had enough money to keep Sydney with me for a couple of nights. Then I would have to wait for the next paycheck that wasn't until two weeks from now. 

I had some money stashed for a rainy day but I didn't want to touch it if I didn't have to. That money was there in case I ever suddenly had to find another place to live or some other type of disaster struck me. I didn't want to let go of that security blanket, but I would if I had to. 

Exhaustion finally took me and I rolled her gently onto her side. She smacked her chops lightly and I smiled, feeling a warm tingle race through me as I slid behind her, spooning her tiny body in the cradle of mine. I slipped one arm under her pillow and let her head lie on my bicep, the other I clasped around her waist and pulled her firmly against me. 

She squirmed a little but then settled in. I relaxed and felt sleep overtaking me. This was not going to be easy, but I had a gut feeling it was going to be worth it. 

* * *

I woke Sunday morning to an empty bed. I held still and listened and heard the shower running. I climbed out of bed and glanced at the clock. It was only 8:00 AM. I lumbered into the bathroom, feeling muscles protest at the forced activity. I wasn't getting any younger. I felt a flash of indecision as I thought of how young she was. Then I looked up as I entered the bathroom and looked at her through the glass shower enclosure. 

The glass was not frosted. It was clear as crystal. With the life I led, I'd never wanted anyone to be able to sneak up on me while I was in the shower so I'd opted to have the frosted glass replaced with a clear glass shower door. 

My body reacted instantly to the sight of her small, tight body covered in water as it sluiced down her front. My cock swelled but remained resting against my thigh. Her hands were buried in her hair as she worked the lather of the shampoo into her hair. Her breasts stuck out slightly from her position and I itched to touch them. Not wanting to startle her, I cleared my throat. Her head whipped toward me, her hands coming down. She saw me in that instant but then grunted as shampoo ran into her eye and she turned to the spray of water and let it wash over her face. 

I stepped forward and opened the door, climbing in behind her. I waited for her to finish. She turned to face me and smiled. "Your turn," she said softly and moved around me so I could get wet. As I stood there soaping my armpits and chest I felt her hands begin to roam over my back muscles, kneading gently as her slippery hands made their way down to my butt and back up to my shoulders. 

I moaned with pleasure and stretched into her hands. We were otherwise silent as she slowly proceeded to wash me from head to toe. She saved my genitals for last. Her hand slid between the cheeks of my ass and cupped my balls that were feeling heavy and full. I groaned, low and loud. She slid her other hand over my hip. As her soapy hand drew back and forth over my shaft, I hardened to fully erect, feeling a bit sore. I turned to face her. She must be sore this morning. 

Slightly alarmed at the roughness of my voice, I asked, "Are you sore today?" 

She made a face, slightly grimacing and said, "A little. Nothing I can't handle." 

I wondered about that. She would probably never admit to being in pain. I'd been rougher with her in the past than I was last night. However, pushing past the barrier of her cervix had to have left her lame. 

I pulled her to me and leaned down to kiss her. I had to bend quite a bit to reach and I was struck again with how small she was. My hands rested on her waist. I broke the kiss and went down on my knees, coaxing her toward me, and spreading her thighs. 

She sighed as I licked her crevice from back to front and flicked my tongue against her clit. I kissed and licked her, holding her firm, little buttocks in my hands to steady her as I slowly explored all her folds and finally ventured inside. 

She gasped and pushed her crotch into my face. She murmured, "I want you ..." 

I felt my chest tighten at her simple declaration. I continued without answering until I felt her legs trembling against my arms. I slipped a finger inside gently and curled it toward me, searching for the elusive spot. I felt her knees buckle and knew I'd found it as she moaned in delight, her arms bracing her against the wall of the shower and the door. I held her tight with one arm to keep her upright and sucked her clit into my mouth, laving from bottom to top, peeling her hood away and back with every lap. 

She shook and vibrated as she was taken by her climax. She groaned and threw her head back. I rode it out with her, lapping gently. 

She finally hissed and pulled back. I loosened my grip and stood clumsily, hearing my knee crack. It echoed in the confines of the shower stall and I caught her amused look. 

"Think that's funny, do you?" I teased. 

She just smiled wider and said again, "Your turn." She dropped to her knees and took my erect member in her tiny hand. 

I hummed as she wrapped her lips around the head and slid down as far as she could. She pumped me with her hand and sucked the head of my dick until I was thrusting gently into her mouth. Her free hand came up to fondle my balls and squeeze them gently. That was all it took and I was gasping and letting go of my jism, shooting it into her mouth and down her throat. She hummed and swallowed, taking it all in stride. 

She licked me clean and stood up. We both rinsed off again and then stepped out, drying with the huge towels I kept on a shelf by the vanity. I went into the bedroom and retrieved a pair of gray boxer briefs and slipped them on. I turned to find her admiring my body. 

I actually flushed a little under her intense regard. She said softly, "You have a magnificent body, Walter." 

I smiled. "So do you, lady." 

She raised an eyebrow. "I've been called a lot of things, but 'lady' isn't one of them." 

I approached her and wrapped her in my arms, towel, and all. My lips dropped to her ear and said, "Then they were fools, Sydney. You are so much more than you appear on the outside, although the outside isn't half bad." 

"Half bad?" she joked. 

I chuckled. "You're like a damn vision, Sydney, a dream come true." 

She sniffled a little into my chest and her arms came around my waist. "You're going to get under my skin if I'm not careful," she whispered. 

"Would that be such a bad thing?" 

"I don't know yet," she said solemnly. After a pause, she said, "It may be the stupidest thing I ever do but I want to try, Walter. I have to trust somebody sometime. I decided. I want to be with you. I want to leave the streets and if I don't do it now, I feel like I never will, like I will have lost my chance. I hate it out there ... and I feel ... so safe when I'm with you, like nothing can hurt me." 

I tipped her head up and kissed her gently, savoring the taste of her lips. I pulled away, not wanting to get side tracked now. "Let's get dressed. We have some serious planning to do and I want to call Mulder and Scully." 

"I have to go see Carlos." 

"I know, but not yet." 

"I have to check in by noon." 

"That's three and half hours away. Let's have some breakfast and I'll give you the money. Maybe I can get Mulder and Scully over here before you have to leave." 

She nodded and backed up. I grabbed some jeans, socks, and a white muscle tee and dressed hastily. It was normally about $300 for her to spend the night like this. I had six hundred stashed in my dresser. I took it out surreptitiously and stuck it in my front pocket. She was coming back tonight if I had anything to say about it. 

* * *

* * *

**PART 5 (PG-13)**  
**WALTER SKINNER'S APARTMENT**  
**ALEXANDRIA, VA**  
**9:00 AM - SUNDAY MORNING**

We ate scrambled eggs and bacon and coffee. I called Mulder when we were finished. 

"Can you come over?" I asked. 

[Sure, what's up?] 

"I have Sydney here." 

[Oh! What do you want me for?] 

"Both of you actually. I'm going to need your help with some things." 

[What we talked about Friday night?] 

"Yes." 

[Give us a half hour. We'll be over by 9:30.] 

"See you then." 

I hung up and found Sydney staring at me. "What are they like?" she asked tentatively. 

"They are very nice people, Sydney." 

She grimaced. "Lots of people are but they still treat prostitutes like they aren't people." 

"You don't have to worry about them. They aren't like that. They encouraged me to go to you." 

"They did?" 

"Yes, they want me to be happy." 

"And you think I can make you happy?" 

"I think so. I don't know. There ware no guarantees but I want to try, Sydney." 

Her expression was sad but there was a spark of hope in her light blue eyes. "Me too," she said softly. I smiled and kissed her forehead. 

"Let's relax on the couch with coffee. I need to make some more phone calls. What's your pimp's full name?" 

* * *

I sat quietly on my end of the couch with my legs curled underneath me as I listened to his side of the conversation. 

"Kimberly, it's Skinner." 

His last name was Skinner. I'd always thought it odd that it wasn't on his mailbox or the buzzer downstairs. Kimberly? Who the hell was Kimberly? 

"Sorry to bother you on a Sunday, Kimberly, but I need a huge favor. It's important." 

There was a pause. 

"Could you call that friend of yours on the Soliciting Task Force and ask him if they have any files on a Carlos Margales?" 

I stiffened. Task force? What task force? This could get creepy. 

"Yeah, I'd like to keep it quiet for now. If he has any files, see if he can get you a copy." 

Another pause. 

"Yeah, I appreciate it, Kim. Thank you." 

He hung up and turned to me. "Kimberly is my secretary." 

Oh! I didn't respond. 

"The Soliciting Task Force is with the D.C.P.D." 

"I gathered that." 

"Don't get nervous. I'll keep you out of it, but they may have information we can use and I may have information they can use." 

"From me," I clarified. 

He nodded. "Yes, maybe we can trade information." 

I nodded, feeling a lump form in my throat. I realized it was fear. I was used to fear, I lived with it every day. However, it was something I'd gotten used to, being on the streets. It was a vague sense of unease that had sharpened my instincts to a fine point. That fear I knew. This fear was something altogether different. It was the fear of the unknown. I had no idea what was going to happen and I suddenly felt like my life was careening out of control. It scared me not to have the control of the events in my life. I was trusting Walter to make things happen and frankly, I didn't like it. He could still turn on me. My intellect told me I was an idiot to trust him, anyone, but especially an FBI agent. 

But my heart and my instincts told me that his motives were pure. Being on the streets honed your bullshit detector. And I knew he wasn't lying to me. At least I knew that he believed what he was saying. He didn't want to hurt me, but he might anyway. 

I cringed internally thinking that if people knew how scared and fragile I really was, I would have been dead by now. He could hurt me so easily. Then again, I wondered if it mattered in the long run. I hated my life anyway so what was the difference? If there was a chance that he could make it better then I wasn't going to stand in his way, regardless of whether or not his motives were pure. Did it really matter? I had nothing to lose. No family, no kids, not ties to anyone but Carlos. 

But Carlos was a dangerous man. He'd hit me a few times when he was displeased but he'd never really hurt me. I was too valuable to him. And I knew some girls out there had it a lot worse than I did. Some of them lived four and five girls in a two-room apartment. I had my own place and had earned more and more freedom as time had gone on. Carlos trusted me and in a sick twisted way, I was loath to break that trust. I was a prostitute, but I had integrity. 

I almost laughed out loud at that. Honor among thieves. How silly. Integrity, me, a hooker. The whole concept was an oxymoron. I sold my body for sex and was worried about breaking the trust of a pimp. I didn't delude myself. I was valuable to Carlos, but nobody was indispensable and if I ever betrayed him or defied direct orders, I knew he wouldn't hesitate to beat me. The only good thing was that he insisted his girls stay clean. If he found out you were using drugs, you were gone. If he found out you had STDs, you were gone. He'd built a reputation on the street for having clean girls. He paid to have us checked medically three times a year. I went more often of my own accord. Consequently, his reputation allowed him to charge more for his girls. He was a very rich man now. 

"Walter, what will become of the other girls?" 

He was silent a moment and then said, "I thought about that last night. That's one of the questions I have for the task force. I want to know if they've made any kind of provisions for the girls they take down." 

"And if they haven't?" 

"I don't know, I'll think of something. Mulder and Scully may have some ideas as well." 

The doorbell rang and he jumped up to answer it. I kept my back to the door, again feeling a wave of uneasiness. This was the woman he'd lusted after. This was the woman he had pretended I was. I felt an unfamiliar tug of jealousy in my gut and squashed it, telling myself not to be an idiot. I heard him greet them. 

"Come in, have a seat. Coffee?" 

"Love some," I heard a beautiful, smooth baritone voice say. 

A second later, I heard her say, "Me too, thanks." 

I stood slowly and turned slowly, feeling my heartbeat accelerate at an alarming rate. I glanced up to see the tall man taking her coat from her shoulders and turning to hang it on the coat rack that stood by the door. I turned my head for my first look at the mysterious 'Scully.' 

We both gasped at the same time. It was eerie, almost like looking in a mirror, but not. There were differences. We stared openly at one another. I realized she was looking for the differences as well. 

A felt my lips tug at the corners in amusement and hers did too. We didn't say anything for several long minutes but just allowed each other the opportunity to stare. 

She stepped toward me but stopped about three feet away. She was wearing sneakers and I was barefoot. I was a couple inches taller. My hair was a darker shade of auburn, but the cut was almost identical. Mine was a little shorter and thicker and bobbed under on the ends. Her hair was a little longer. Her lips were fuller than mine, but we both sported high cheekbones and light blue eyes. Her figure was a bit lusher than mine. It was hard to tell if her breasts were bigger as they were hidden under a bulky sweater, but I could see her hips were a bit womanlier than mine. 

She cleared her throat finally and smiled. "Well, this is interesting," she stated simply. 

The tall, dark haired man whispered, "Jesus, Double Whammee. It's a little creepy." 

I burst out laughing. I don't know why, but the whole scenario struck me as hilarious all of a sudden. Maybe it was nervous laughter, I'm not sure, but she laughed too and her husband started to smile at us laughing. I heard him mumble, "Wow, my God Scully, she could almost be your twin. It's even more apparent in the flesh." 

Just then, Walter returned with two mugs of coffee and asked, "Having all this fun without me?" 

Our laughter died abruptly. I knew she had the same thought that I did. We'd had our fun with him separately. I bit my lip, not knowing what to say and now feeling awkward. 

"Uh oh, sorry," Walter mumbled as he handed them their coffee and motioned to the chairs in the living room. We all took a seat, Walter, and me on the couch and they sat in chairs facing us across the coffee table. 

The man spoke next. He leaned out of his chair and extended his hand. "I'm Fox Mulder. But everyone calls me Mulder." 

I tentatively took his hand, really looking at his face for the first time. He was a handsome man and I found myself caught by his hazel eyes. They were very compelling. I broke the stare and looked down at my lap as he pulled his hand back. "Nice to meet you," I muttered. 

Scully didn't rise, but she said, "Obviously, I'm Dana Scully." 

"But everyone calls you Scully, right?" I asked mildly. 

They all chuckled. She responded, "At work everyone calls me Scully. Mulder calls me that because we got so used to our surnames, but I don't care. If you're more comfortable calling me Dana, that's fine too." 

I nodded. "I'm Sydney, ... obviously," I added. 

She nodded. "Nice to meet you too, Sydney, we've heard a lot about you." 

My gaze shot to Walter who was sitting back and seemed to be enjoying the exchange. He glanced at his watch and said, "Do you need to check in?" 

I startled, wondering at the time. "What time is it?" 

"Close to 10:00." 

I relaxed. "I have a little time." 

He nodded. "Why don't you call now and tell him you'll be late. Tell him you have a chance to make more money." 

I swallowed, suddenly embarrassed to be talking like this in front of these two people. Normal people. People Walter cared about. I felt the unfamiliar sting of tears that this man seemed to evoke from me. He put his coffee cup down and slid down the couch, putting his hand on my shoulder. "It's all right, Sydney. Don't be embarrassed. They understand." 

I glanced sideways and they were both nodding. I felt like a jerk again. 

I stood up abruptly. "I'll use the phone in the kitchen." I picked up my coffee cup and trotted into the kitchen. 

As I hurried toward the phone, I heard Walter say, "Excuse me a minute." 

I was dialing when he reached me and placed his finger on the disconnect button on the phone. I stopped and went still, turning to look at him. "Do you want me to call or not?" I asked testily, trying to cover my embarrassment. 

He handed me his digital phone. "Use this, harder to trace and it's signal is scrambled and blocked. It won't show up on caller I.D. I don't really want this loser knowing my home number or figuring out where I live." 

I nodded and took it from him. One hand cupped my cheek and she sighed. "I didn't mean to embarrass you, Sydney. I just wanted to get this out of the way and not have to rush or be interrupted later. I want you to stay." 

I nodded, swallowing hard. "I just feel so ... inadequate... cheap ... I don't know," I trailed off. 

He lifted my face and leaned down to kiss me gently. "Don't. They are very understanding and so am I." He stared at me a minute and then whispered, "God, woman, you break my heart sometimes." 

I smiled sadly then, not sure what to say. "I need to call," I said, my voice sounding hoarse. 

He nodded and reached into the pocket of his jeans, pulling out a wad of cash and held it out to me. I felt the traitorous tear stings my eyes again. "Way to go, Walter. That's just the thing to do when I'm feeling cheap," I said. 

He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, I didn't think. I just want you to take it and tell him I've paid for two nights and you're staying tonight too." 

I grabbed the money and stuffed it in my pocket, not counting it. I knew he would never cheat me. I paused wondering how I was so sure of that, but I was. "Go to your friends, give me some privacy," I requested. 

He nodded and kissed my forehead and then retreated into the living room. I dialed the phone as I leaned on the counter. It only rang twice before he picked up. He didn't say anything, probably wondering that the number wasn't showing up on his caller I.D. on his cell phone. I usually called him from home after a night out before I went to sleep. My days usually began at 8:00 PM. I didn't bother to tell him that Carlos already knew where he lived. When I'd started having him as a regular client, Carlos had wanted to know where he lived. I'd showed him. I regretted it now but I'd be damned if I was going to say anything at this point. 

"It's Sydney." 

[Where da fuck are you, girl?] 

"I'm with a customer." 

[Still? What da fuck? It's almost 10 a'clock.] 

"I stayed the night ... with Mr. Nautilus." 

[You get paid?] 

"Yes, he paid for two nights actually." 

[Two? You shitting me.] 

"No, He wants me to come back tonight. This is the one that always wants me for the night." 

[Yeah, I know, but now he wants you two nights in a row?] 

"Yes." 

[Mr. Nautilus really gotta a taste for your poon tang, eh, baby?] 

I cringed at his crudeness, suddenly feeling very acutely the degradation of my life. "Any problems with that, Carlos?" I forced myself to ask. 

[Not so longs you get da green,] he stated in his horrible English. 

"I got it. $600 right here in my pocket." 

[In advance ... well, well, you done good, Red. How 'bout you bring me my half now.] 

"I'm tired Carlos. It was a rough night." In more ways than one, I thought ironically. 

[You can sleep after I has my money, honey.] He chuckled, thinking his rhyme was clever. 

"I really need to sleep Carlos. Couldn't I bring it tonight before I go see him again? I need to get home and go to sleep now or he won't be happy with what I look like when I show up tonight." He had no idea I'd slept well, really well, better than I had in years. Having Walter wrapped around me like a warm, protective cocoon. For all Carlos knew though, I'd been up all night 'working'. 

[Why you bein' harsh, honey? You don't never argue like dis? You tellin' me the truff, aren't you?] 

"Of course I am." 

He was silent a moment. [You my bess girl and I knows youse smarter dan to lie to me.] He was silent, waiting for me act nervous or cagey to detect the lie. I stayed silent. 

Finally he said, [All right, but I let youse off the street for dis guy for two nights in a row, I wanna see da green befo'han. No later than 6:00, baby.] 

"I'll be there," I said wearily. 

[See ya den.] He hung up. 

I sighed with relief and looked up to see Mulder watching me from the doorway to the kitchen. I flushed with embarrassment. He smiled gently, no mocking in his expression. "You don't need to be embarrassed, Sydney. We really do understand." 

He swallowed visibly. He continued. "Walter filled us in a little on what he means to do. We'd be more than happy to help." 

"Why do you give a shit?" I asked with my usual skepticism, my walls coming back up with a vengeance. 

He didn't react to my ungrateful tone. "Because I care about Walter and so does my wife. He's our friend. He's gotten us out of more jams than you can imagine. He's very good at getting people out of jams. You couldn't be in better hands, Sydney." 

I just looked at him, not knowing what to say. 

He sighed and looked at me again. "I know you have no reason to trust us. But we really will help you. And if Walter trusts you and likes you, I'm sure we will too. He's a good judge of character." 

I snorted then. "Yeah, he can pick 'em." 

He pursed his lips and then said, "Stop beating yourself for caring, Sydney. You're human. It's all right to be frightened or confused." 

I met his gaze. "I'm not frightened," I defended myself automatically. 

He just smiled gently. "Whatever you say." 

"I'm not!" I exclaimed, hearing my own voice become shrill and cringing internally. 

"We're not the enemy, Sydney. That's all I wanted to say. And as far as our relationship with Walter, we've left the ball completely in his court. So there's no need for you to feel threatened by my wife." 

"I'm not threatened," I stated, much more calmly than my last denial. He believed me this time. He nodded. 

"Good. Let's join them again and come up with a plan." 

I nodded and followed him back into the living room. 

* * *

The guys decided they needed to talk finances and come up with a game plan for Monday morning. I was very curious about this girl and what it was about her that had so captured Walter's interest. 

I could tell his interest was more than casual by the wistful way in which he looked at her. There was lust there, but there was a lot more going on as well. I liked to think that I could read him pretty well, and I saw concern and fear, but no pity. 

"Sydney, why don't you and I go get a pizza or something or bring it back?" 

She looked startled as I made the suggestion, but hesitantly nodded. I turned to Mulder and Walter and asked, "What do you want on pizza, guys?" 

"I like pepperoni," Walter suggested. 

Mulder added, "How about pepperoni and mushrooms?" 

We all nodded our agreement. Mulder pulled his wallet out of his back pocket when I smiled and held my hand out. I'd forgotten to bring any money with me even though I had my purse in the car. He handed me forty dollars and I stuck it in the front pocket of my jeans. 

"See you later," I waved over my shoulder as I made my way out the door with Sydney on my heels. We walked in silence to the car. I slid behind the wheel and waited for her to buckle herself in. 

"Alfredo's all right?" 

She nodded, not saying anything. 

"You all right?" 

She barked out a burst of mirthless laughter filled with irony. "Yeah, I guess so." 

I decided not to push it right now. I pulled out on the state road and said, "We'll stop at Alfredo's. They have good pizza and we can grab some coffee while we wait. It usually takes about twenty minutes. I don't know about Walter, but Mulder can eat half a pie himself, we better get two." 

She smiled then and said, "Walter has a healthy appetite." 

I grinned at her and wasn't sure if she was talking about food or sex, but decided not to clarify. I hadn't missed the flash of jealousy that had crossed her face when I'd first stepped through the door, though she'd hidden it quickly. 

Five minutes later I pulled into the parking lot. We went in, gave our order, and sat down in a booth in the back, asking for coffee. After being served, we sat in silence for a moment while we fixed our coffee. She blew on it tentatively and took a sip. I realized I was going to have to be the one to break the silence. 

"All right, I'll start." 

She looked up and met my gaze but said nothing. 

"This is awkward, Sydney, but I'm sure we can get past this." 

"This?" she asked, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. 

I didn't blame her for being defensive. On the other hand, I knew nothing about this woman, absolutely nothing. However I could only assume, due to her lifestyle, that she was streetwise and no dummy. 

"I'm no threat to you, Sydney." 

"Who said you were?" she asked tonelessly. 

I sighed deeply. "Am I flattering myself?" I asked in a self-deprecating pitch. 

She smiled finally and said, "No, not really." 

"I don't know a thing about you, Sydney." 

"No, you don't," she replied, no malice in her voice. It was just a statement of fact. 

"I would like to though," I said quietly. 

She looked at me for a long moment and then said, "Why?" 

I smiled. "I care about Walter, he's a good friend of ours." 

She grinned then. "Yeah, I know just how good a friend he is of yours." 

I looked at my lap suddenly embarrassed. "Look Sydney, that's something we're going to have to talk about eventually but we don't have to do it today. And that wasn't what I was referring to at all. We've known Walter for over eight years. He's been our supervisor for all that time. We've been through countless jams and life threatening situations together. I don't know if you can understand the bond that creates between people." 

She looks politely interested. "Yeah, I can. And I'm sorry. I don't mean to be a sarcastic bitch." She stopped and licked her lips. "I guess I don't have a clue what to say really." 

"I'm fumbling myself. I just wanted you to know that ... if it matters to you ... I'm no threat to you. I care about Walter, but I'll let him go. Not that it's my decision, but I mean I wouldn't fight it. I want him to be happy and ... although we've enjoyed our brief time together ... Mulder and I are not what he needs. I see that now." 

"And you think I am what he needs?" she asks tentatively. 

I smiled at her genuinely. "Yes, I do." 

"Why?" 

"Your favorite question," I stated. 

"No ... jealousy or resentments on your end? You just started this relationship with him." 

"No. I love my husband to the point of distraction. Walter was ... an exciting experience but all my love is for my husband. He's my soul mate. There's no room to love anyone else, not that way." 

"So it was ... just a physical thing?" 

"Mostly, although we are friends and have a genuine respect and caring for one another. I don't think I could have done it otherwise. I couldn't do that with a stranger. There was trust there from the start. I know he cares about me and would never intentionally hurt me." 

"He did hurt you though, didn't he?" 

I was surprised he had told her. "Not intentionally," I replied. 

"But he ..." 

"Did what I asked him to do, so if there's any blame, it rests squarely on my shoulders." 

She pursed her lips. "Look, Scully ... Dana, whatever." 

"Whatever you're more comfortable with." 

"He always called you Scully." 

"That's fine, that's what most people call me." 

"O.K., then. Scully, ... I'm used to being very independent, other than my ... employer." 

"I imagine you are." 

"What I mean to say is that I'm not used to having anyone, particularly a man ... give two shits about me." 

I felt a wave of sadness for her. She was so young and I couldn't begin to imagine what her life had been like to lead her to the streets. "He does care for you." 

Her bottom lip quivered slightly and so quickly, I thought I might have imagined it, but then it quivered again and she looked up at me. Her eyes were suspiciously moist but no tears fell. "I want to believe that," she said finally, her voice a little huskier than before. 

"Believe it. Before we were even together, he talked about you, said he ... was sorry about the way he'd treated you." 

"He shouldn't be sorry. I'm a hooker," she said blandly. 

"You're more than that to him, and I think you know it," I said simply. 

She looked at me for another silent moment. "Like I said, I want to believe it. I want to believe it so bad ... I can ... fucking taste it!" she hissed through clenched teeth. I could tell she was struggling for control of her emotions. When she had them under control she added, "But I'm terrified to believe it. Can you understand that?" 

I nodded. 

"I don't think you can. I hate my life ... Scully, but it's the only life I know." 

"Are you afraid of Walter? He'd never hurt you." 

"Not per se. I'm afraid of ... feeling too much and having it taken away. That might be worse than never having felt it at all." 

"I don't believe that personally, but I understand what you mean. I suppressed my feelings for my partner for years, and all it brought me was depression and misery. I had all the excuses why I shouldn't want him, why I shouldn't touch him. And in the end, they all crumpled to dust." 

"Why?" 

I smiled at her favorite one word question again. Her lips turned up at the corners quickly but then she frowned again. "Because it's always better to be with someone than to be alone." 

"Not always." 

"Maybe not in your situation, but I mean, if you care for someone, it's always better to let it show. Repressed feelings will eat you up from the inside out until there's nothing left but an emotional husk. That's just existing, not living. That's what I did for a lot of years. I convinced myself that it was safer that way and I was terrified of losing what we had ... a beautiful friendship and an amazing partnership." 

"What changed your mind?" 

"I couldn't ignore it anymore. And NOT giving in was starting to destroy the very thing I was trying to preserve. We were best friends, but I started avoiding him outside of work because being with him was ... not painful exactly but ... tense. I wanted to touch him so badly and when I couldn't it ruined my enjoyment of the time we were together." 

She seemed deep in contemplation of that when the waitress reappeared to refill our coffee cups. After she walked away, Sydney looked at me and changed the subject, "It's a little eerie how much we look alike." 

I smiled then and nodded. "Yeah, it threw me a little there at first, even though I'd seen you ..." I stopped, realizing that she may not know that we'd seen that tape. How embarrassing was that for her and did she even know about the tapes. Jeez, that was a dumb move, I thought. Careful, Dana, I scolded myself. 

She flashed me a grin. "I know about the tapes. He told me you saw one and that's how you found out about me. I don't know which one you saw, but... it doesn't really matter. I figure I don't have many secrets in that area anyway." 

I sighed in relief and she chuckled at my visible relaxation. "Whew!" I said dramatically. 

She laughed then, genuinely laughed for the first time. It was not the nervous laughter that had erupted when we first stared at each other; this was relaxed and truly amused laughter. Her voice was low but not deep and her laugh was rich and full and it transformed her face from sadness to truly beautiful. I saw in an instant what Walter saw when he looked at her. She was a beautiful girl. She was me 15 years younger. I'd never thought of myself as beautiful particularly but I thought that this girl, with her slimmer lips and young vitality was beautiful, especially when she laughed. 

I grinned at her and then said, "Walter wouldn't go this trouble for just anybody, Sydney. He must care very deeply for you." 

Her mirth ended and she stared at me and then said, "I'm afraid. I know that's stupid, but ... I've run from cops all my life. I nearly had a heart attack when he told me what he did for a living. I immediately assumed he'd been setting me up." 

I laughed this time and shook my head. "You don't know him very well do you?" 

She said, "In some ways I do, in others, I'm baffled." 

"Join the club." 

We smiled at each other then. "He hadn't called me in over a month. I didn't think he would again and I ... was surprised at just how much that ... hurt. And I was pissed at myself for letting myself care about him. I'm not supposed to, you know?" 

"No, I don't imagine that would normally be in your best interests. You're human Sydney, and whether you think it's right or wrong, you didn't make a mistake with Walter. He's a lot of things. He can be blustery and he can be stubborn and difficult, but one thing he isn't is a liar. If nothing else, you can count on him to be honest with you. If you are his friend and honest with him, he will be honest with you, Sydney. He'll say what he means even if it isn't what you want to hear." 

She nodded, swallowing heavily. "Good to know." 

The waitress approached and slid our pizzas onto the table. I paid her and then asked, "Do you want to talk some more? We don't have to race back with these." 

"No, let's go back. I mean, I may want to talk more later, but I want to know what they plan on doing." 

"Me too. And Sydney?" 

"Yeah." 

"We'll help out however we can. We have ... resources, and we'll use them." 

"I don't doubt it," she said. 

"I meant we have personal resources, not just the Bureau." 

She raised her eyebrows in question then. 

"Mulder and I have ... money and connections. We'll make sure you're safe." 

"Is that why he asked for your help?" 

"Partly, and partly just because he trusts us." I paused. "God, you look more like me than my own sister did. It freaks me out a little." 

She smiled. "I may look like you, Dana, but ... I'm about the farthest thing from being like you as anybody could get." 

I was silent a moment, wondering what exactly she meant. Was she simply referring to our professions or something deeper? Finally, I said, "Don't be too sure, Sydney. We're both women and we think differently than they do. We girls have to stick together." 

She nodded. "Let's go, then." 

* * *

* * *

**PART 6 (R)**  
**WALTER SKINNER'S APARTMENT**  
**ALEXANDRIA, VA**

The men had been busy making plans while we were gone. They were both pacing the living room with digital phones to their ears as we returned. They both stopped talking abruptly and waved us in. We put the pizza on the coffee table and retreated to the kitchen to find napkins and paper plates and Parmesan cheese. When we emerged, the guys had both ended their calls and had the pizza boxes open, staring longingly at the delicious smelling pies. 

Dana grinned at me. "Some things never change." 

I laughed in spite of myself. I didn't want to like her, but I did. I think maybe I was more afraid of her judgment than anything else. After all, Walter had wanted her or I never would have been in his life in the first place. On one level, I owed her for that if this worked out. On another level, I wondered if I would always be unsure of him when she was around. I would have to get over that. She said she wasn't a threat and maybe in her mind she wasn't. 

What about Walter's feelings? Would he always prefer her, the real thing? Would I always be a substitute? He said I wasn't anymore that he wanted me for me, but I found that hard to believe. My brain just didn't want to wrap around that thought and embrace it. It was a dangerous one to have and believe. He could break me emotionally, and I didn't remember any man ever having that power over me since I was a little kid. My father broke me and no one else had ever been given the opportunity since. 

I was taking the biggest chance of my life. My mind was in turmoil. I knew that regardless of whether it worked out with Walter, I wanted this chance. How long was I going to survive on the streets anyway? I would be old before my time and the streets were unforgiving. And nobody wanted a haggard, old whore. And that was what I would become. I'd already seen the results in the faces of older, more experienced women that walked those streets. I had to take the chance, but my survival instincts kept getting in the way. I wanted to keep those walls up. However, Mulder and Scully's easy acceptance of me and Walter's loving glances were chipping away at my natural defensive posture. 

I don't ever remember being so scared. Carlos didn't even scare me like these people did, maybe because I understood Carlos. I knew what to expect. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know, I guess. 

* * *

I looked surreptitiously at Walter and Sydney sitting on the couch together. Scully sat in the chair next to mine, eating slowly with her plate in her lap. Walter kept glancing at her and I would see an expression on his face that I could only describe as excitement. Not arousal, but excitement. He was looking forward to this. I wasn't sure if it was the challenge of taking this idiot off the street and being out in the trenches again, or the excitement of actually being able to have Sydney with him on a permanent basis. 

While the girls were gone, he'd expressed some concerns as to whether she would stay when this was all over. I didn't know her well enough to say and suggested we take this one step at a time and not worry about what she might or might not do at this point. He agreed, but I could see he was troubled. I knew he cared for this girl, but even I hadn't realized how much. I think he really hadn't realized it either until the prospect of having her with him was a real possibility. He hadn't wanted to like her that much ... but he did. I could see it in every glance and every slow tug at the edge of his mouth that wanted to become a smile whenever he looked at her. He was well and truly hooked. 

Before now, even before we were together, I'd noticed that if Scully was in the room, he couldn't take his eyes off her. It was different today. Sydney was here and she was the one his eyes kept going back to like a magnet. He hardly even glanced at Scully at we talked. 

We finished eating and sat back, satisfied for the moment with our full bellies. "What now?" I asked. 

Scully said, "Why don't you tell us what you've done so far." 

I turned to Scully. I called our accountant and told him that I was going to be making a large withdrawal tomorrow and to make out the paperwork and have it waiting for me at 9:00 AM. She nodded and asked, "And this is for?" 

"I'm going to lend Walter $4,200." 

"What?!" Sydney exclaimed. 

I smiled and looked at Walter, deciding he'd better explain this. "Sydney, ... if it's possible, I'm going to ask you to tell Carlos that I want to take you away on vacation for two weeks." 

"Are you fucking nuts?" she asked immediately. 

He turned to look at her, licking his lips and looking a tad nervous. "No, I'm not, and I don't see how he will be able to turn down $2,100. up front." 

She just stared at him. "He'll be suspicious." 

"Tell him that I'm a businessman and I'm going to a conference where I don't want to be unescorted. That all the men there will have dates and I don't want to take someone who will think there are any strings attached." 

She looked at him solemnly. "I don't know ..." 

"There are strings attached, Sydney. You know that. You know I want you with me. He will think you're out of town and you can lay low here. If you have to go out, Scully will go with you and we can keep you out of your neighborhood where he would be likely to see you. Having you completely out of the picture will allow us to ... do this without fearing that you'll get hurt." 

She looked at him. "You're crazy, it won't work." 

"It will work. Tell him tonight when you go see him." 

She was shaking her head. "You don't know Carlos. He won't let me out of his sight that long." 

I cleared my throat, "What if you tell him Walter's willing to pay double." 

She turned to me with her brows scrunched together. "You're all fucking crazy!' she exclaimed. 

"Tell him, $4,200. up front. That's $600 a day. That'd be high even for a good week, wouldn't it?" 

"Mr. Mulder, I can't take that kind of money from you." 

"Sure you can, and you will. It's nothing to me anyway." 

"$4,200 is nothing to you!??" 

I looked at her calmly and decided there was no harm in telling her. "I don't advertise it because then all the nuts come out the woodwork with their hands out, but ... I'm a millionaire, Sydney. $4,200 is nothing to me." 

She stared at me in silence, her mouth hanging open, trying desperately to believe what I was saying. "I can't be gone for two weeks." 

"Don't know unless you ask, do you?" I countered. 

She turned to Walter. "What if he says, 'No'?" 

"Then we'll come up with something different, but I'd like to try. Do you think you'll be in danger, just from asking?" 

"I don't think so, " she replied, but she didn't sound convinced. 

"You want me to pose as a new customer?" I asked. 

She turned to me. "He was surprised Walter wanted me for two nights." 

Walter's eyebrows raised, "Really?" 

"Yeah, I think his response was, 'Really gotta a taste for your poon tang, eh, baby?'?" 

Walter visibly cringed and made a face. "Shit," he muttered under his breath. She looked at him with mock innocence. "Carlos is not a complicated person, Walter." 

"So I gather," he said, disgust dripping from his voice. "Jesus, what an asshole." 

Sydney merely shrugged. "A new customer might be more believable. And if he thought that you might be a repeat, it would intrigue him, the scent of more money. I've mentioned Walter too many times. I don't use his name, but he knows who I'm talking about." 

"What do you call me?" Walter asked. 

"Mr. Nautilus," she said with a perfectly straight face. Scully and I burst out laughing as Walter made another face of distaste. It was funny, I couldn't help it. 

Walt looked at us, "It isn't that funny," he said dryly. 

As Scully and I tried to get our mirth under control and Sydney grinned at our reaction, Scully said, "Yes, Walt, it is!" 

Another fit of giggles overtook her and Sydney started laughing too. "Well, I couldn't give him your real name. I didn't even know it for one." 

We all quieted at that. Walter looked at her, "You knew my name was Walter." 

"Yeah, but I didn't know if that was your real name. Lots of johns give false names, and I didn't know your last name, not that I make a habit of knowing them anyway. However, I find out by accident sometimes. You on the other hand, don't have your name on your mailbox and you never leave any mail or anything out where I could see it." 

He swallowed and looked down. "I didn't want you to know who I was." 

"Afraid I'd rat you out?" 

He looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Or blackmail me," he said finally. 

I looked at him suddenly. "Walter, you didn't think that break in was her did you?" 

"No, I knew it was two men, but I didn't know if it was her pimp or not." 

"I thought you suspected, Krycek?" Scully asked. 

He shrugged. "Could have been him too, I just didn't know. Can you imagine a pimp getting a hold of my name and knowing who I am? He could black mail the shit out of me." 

We all looked somber then. Sydney said, "I never thought of that, of course, I didn't know what you did for a living." 

"Now you do," he stated simply. "It was no reflection on you, Sydney, but it was a concern of mine." 

"Still is, right?" 

He shrugged his big shoulders again. "I'd rather no one ever finds out that we met that way, but if they do, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." 

"I can't let you risk your job," Sydney replied quietly. 

He looked at her. "I told you before, you aren't asking me for anything. I'm offering. If we take this guy down, then that's the perfect cover." 

"What do you mean?" she asked. 

I cut in at this point, seeing that Walter was uncomfortable with these explanations. "He means that if people were to ask him why he was with a prostitute, he could say that you were an informant and that he wasn't with you for sex." 

Her head whipped around to look at him. "You said you'd keep my name out of it." 

"And I will," he stated firmly. "Even if someone finds out I was with a prostitute, they don't have to know it was you." 

"How will you explain my presence?" 

"I'll just say we met at a coffeehouse or something, that you just moved into town." 

"What if one of my clients recognizes me on the street." 

He looked at her, swallowing hard again. "I don't know yet, Sydney. I haven't worked it all out to the last fucking detail!" he said, raising his voice and sounding extremely frustrated. 

"Sorry," she replied, barely loud enough to heard. 

He looked instantly contrite and slid down next to her on the couch and pulled her into an embrace. She almost looked like a teen child in his arms. He dwarfed her even more than he did Scully. She was so ... petite all over. "I'm sorry, Sydney, it's just that I can only work one thing out at a time right now. First things first, all right?" 

"Yeah, I just don't want you to get caught out because we don't have a plan." 

He smiled at her. "We'll work it all out. We don't have much time though. If he falls for the bait and we can hide you away here, it will be easier and quicker to take him down. And if he thinks you are out of town, he won't suspect you of ratting him out." 

Now it was her turn to cringe. She had to be frightened and the term 'ratting someone out' probably didn't sit well with her. I'd been no stranger to prostitutes before Scully came along and even for a while after she'd joined the X-Files. I'd succumbed to the temptation before in my past. That was one of the reasons that I didn't judge Walter for turning to her. I knew the loneliness that ate you up from the inside and the fear of going into a committed relationship that would put that person in danger. Prostitutes were safe in that there were no strings, no obligations and they took care of a need. 

I broke in at this point to suspend the awkward moment. "We do need your help though, Sydney. Basic information," I informed her. 

She nodded and asked quietly, "Let's get it over with. What do you need to know?" 

* * *

I resolved to stay in close contact with Sydney. She was cooperating with the guys, but something told me that there was a puzzle piece missing. She hadn't done or said anything to make me think that, but call it woman's intuition, there was something she wasn't telling us and it worried me. 

I studied her face and body language as Mulder asked her questions. 

"Where does he live, Sydney?" 

"In an apartment above the Grand Hotel. Number 432." 

"How many body guards does he keep?" 

"Six that I know of." 

"Which ones are with him at night?" 

"Two, one inside and one outside the door of the suite." 

"Do you know their names?" 

"They call them Slimmy and Toad. I don't know their real names." 

"What weapons do they carry? Do you know?" 

I tuned them out as the questions went one and just studied her. She answered calmly and without emotion. To an outsider, she would appear to be totally unaffected by this. However, I heard her hesitate a few times. I wondered why she was frightened about asking for two weeks to go away when that much money was involved. Of course it would all be going to her pimp, and she had rent to pay. That could be it but I didn't think so. 

I couldn't put my finger on it but something was missing here. And I was going to figure out what it was. 

* * *

Sydney left that night at 5:00 to go see her pimp and then she was returning. Mulder decided to take her and stay outside in case Carlos wanted verification of her 'client'. 

As it turned out he did. He emerged from the lobby of the Grand Hotel and Mulder took his picture with a tiny label camera the Lone Gunmen had equipped him with. Carlos slipped to the passenger side of the car and Sydney waited on the sidewalk. Mulder had driven our Mercedes rather than the government issue Taurus that they might recognize him as a cop. Of course, driving a Mercedes in that section of town wasn't a good idea but we didn't really have a choice. 

Walter and I had followed from a discreet distance and parked a block back from the rendezvous. We both watched through binoculars as Carlos leaned into the window that Mulder had rolled down. 

His wire picked up everything loud and clear. We hadn't wired Sydney because we were afraid it would be discovered. That would be all he needed to go into a rage and kill her and we weren't taking any chances with these last contacts she had to have with him. 

He spoke quietly as though not wanting to draw attention. "Meet me at the diner two blocks down, Dandy." He looked up at Sydney. "You walk with me, Baby." 

Without another word, he spun on his heel and hit the sidewalk with Sydney close on his heels. Mulder pulled out and drove to the diner. Again we parked one block back and observed the door to the Noah's Ark Diner. Mulder said into his wire, "He's got a shoulder holster on under that leather jacket, probably a .22 of some kind. I couldn't get a good look. 

We waited until they were inside to exit the car and casually made our way to the sidewalk across from the door. Walter looked down at me and said, "You should probably wait in the car." 

"Why, so you can go nuts at exactly the wrong time with no one here to stop you?" I asked sarcastically. 

He gave me a dirty look. "No, because if he sees you it may tip him off. You two look at lot alike you know. Nobody's going to see that as a coincidence." 

I sighed, knowing he was right. "Don't do anything stupid. Let Mulder handle it," I warned. 

He nodded. "I won't. I want this bastard and I'm not going let him slip away on some stupid technicality." 

"Then stay out of it, Walter." I paused. "Even if he touches her," I added. He looked at me again, his face screwing up into his trademark scowl. "I mean it, Mulder will handle it. Trust him to protect her, Walter." 

He nodded sharply. I wasn't convinced but made my way back down the sidewalk out of sight of the diner. I slid into Walter's car and locked the doors to wait, my eyes on him every second. 

* * *

**NOAH'S ARK DINER SOUTHEAST SECTION WASHINGTON, D.C. MONDAY - 11:00 AM**

We had decided to have Sydney pay for last night on her own. She returned and we continued to plan late into the night. 

This morning we'd contacted the task force and Kimberly gathered information and money and then set out. We figured it would be less suspicious if Sydney's two proposals were separated. If she gave him the money for night two and asked for two weeks away at the same time it would have looked suspicious. 

So she returned with me this morning and retrieved him from the hotel. I was hoping we could avoid this confrontation but I hadn't really thought he would take her at face value. 

We sat in a booth near the back. Sydney and I on one side and Carlos on the other. He was eyeing me like a snake. Finally, he spoke, "What you want my girl fo'? S'plain dis to me." 

"I'm a businessman, software company. Once a year we go to a convention. Lots of hotshots there. It's considered ... uncouth to show up without a... trophy wife or girlfriend." 

"Good lookin' guy like you don' have no girl?" 

"No, I don't want one. They just misinterpret things and think I'm getting ready to buy a ring and I don't want that, man," I said in my best casual voice, rolling my eyes. 

He chuckled, "Yeah, dey can git pretty clingy." 

"Exactly, and if I ask some woman I know, they think I want to get serious if I'm asking them to go away with me on a business trip. We don't do a lot of work, it's more schmoozing with the big money investors, but I don't want to go alone either." 

"Why not?" 

"Looks bad. Look, ... Carlos is it? I don't have time to explain all the politics to you." 

"You will if I wan' you to," he replied calmly, but there was steel in his voice. 

I nodded. "Is that really necessary? I don't need anyone seeing me in here with a known pimp either." 

"Shhh, keep your voices down," Sydney admonished. We both gave her a dirty look; mine for show, his for real and she shrunk into the corner of the booth. 

"You don' wan' to be seen wit me, but you're willin' to take a hooker wit you?" 

I stared at him like he was an idiot. If I appeared too saavy, I would blow it. He wouldn't expect me to know how the game worked. "No one will know she's a prostitute. I'll buy her appropriate clothes. She just has to hang on my arm and smile a lot at these gatherings." 

"And fuck your brains out at night," he added. 

I raised my eyebrows. "Maybe, I'm paying for it, aren't I?" 

He nodded. "Yeah, so you say." 

"You want the money now?" 

"No! You a fuckin' idiot! Youse never give money in a public place." 

I nodded, swallowing, feigning embarrassment at my ignorance. He clucked his tongue as if to say I was a total moron. But my act of naivet may have convinced him. He sighed and said to her, "You got jobs for the next two weeks?" 

"I can let my regulars know I'll be gone. No big deal. Nothing that can't wait." 

He nodded. "All right, let's go out to your car, fancy boy and THEN you give me the money. You got that, bright boy?" 

I nodded enthusiastically, playing the part of the relieved idiot. He shook his head and stood up, walking out without another glance backwards. I slid out of the booth and held out my hand. Sydney took it and I pulled her to her feet. 

She smiled hesitantly and said under her breath, "Nice show," 

I smiled down at her and said, "Let's catch up to him." 

She nodded and we went out to the sidewalk. I unlocked my car and he got in the front seat. Sydney slid into the back. I locked the doors and then turned to face him. He was pointing a gun at me, waist height, out of sight of the car windows. 

"Jesus!" I exclaimed, putting my hands in the air. 

"You a fuckin' moron. Put your fuckin' hands down!" he hissed. 

I slapped them down on my thighs. Playing an idiot was starting to get to me. "Is that really necessary?" I asked, my voice shaky. 

He didn't answer my question. "Where da money be, pretty boy?" he asked. 

I replied, "In the glove box." 

He raised his eyebrow and turned and opened the glove box. I glanced to the opposite side of the street and saw Walter lounging in the doorway to the abandoned Palace Theater, picking his nails, one shoulder leaned against the ornate column framing the boarded up door. He glanced at me and then away again. Only I could have detected his tense body stance. I looked up the street and saw two goons that I could only assume were his people watching the car like a hawk. 

I'd put it in a plain business envelope. He pulled it out and opened the tucked in flap with one hand. He braced it against his stomach, the gun still pointed at me as I breathed hard, trying to fake that I was nervous and panicking a bit. I was nervous. I never liked having a gun pointed at me. I had one in a belt holster at my low back, concealed by my suede jacket, but if I reached for it, he would fire before I could pull it out. 

Sydney was silent through this whole thing, not seeming to be nervous. I wondered how many guns she was around on a daily basis and frowned. He thumbed through the $100 bills in the envelope, counting it. 

Finally, he looked up at me, stuffing the envelope into the inside pocket of his leather jacket. "All right, you wasn't lying 'bout da green. You can have her, starting tomorrow night, all right. Tonight I want her to work." 

I nodded, wondering how Walter was going to take that. He climbed out of the car and walked down the sidewalk without looking back. I watched until the two goons followed several seconds later, trailing him at a discreet distance. I flashed Walter a thumb's up as Sydney slid out and climbed into the front seat. Walter began his trek back to the car and I pulled out and headed back for his apartment in Alexandria. 

* * *

Sydney was quiet for a minute and then said, "Walter won't like it. He'll want to give me money for tonight, but I really should work." 

"You're right, he won't like it." 

"He doesn't own me," she said defensively. "Even if he is helping me out." 

"I think you know that's not what it's about." 

"Really? No, I don't know that." 

"Sydney, he's worried about you getting hurt. There are lot of weirdoes out there." 

She snorted. "You think I don't know that? You think I don't deal with them every damn day of my lousy life? I know how to handle creeps, probably better than any of you." 

I sighed. "Maybe so but that doesn't mean we have to like it or want you to go through it any more than you have to." 

"I think I have to. Too many coincidences and Carlos will be suspicious. He is now, but the money temporarily blinded him. But that won't last. He'll start thinking and that's when we'll be in trouble." 

"You said he wasn't a complicated person. Maybe the money was all he needed to convince him." 

"And you're stellar acting job," she said wryly. Then she added, "I said he wasn't complicated, I didn't say he was stupid." 

I glanced at her and pulled on to the highway. "I realize that." 

"Do you? I wonder. People tend to confuse lack of education with stupidity." 

"Is that what people have done to you?" I asked softly. 

She looked at me briefly and then turned her head to the side window, watching the scenery fly by and I took the car up to 65 mph. "Carlos is a bastard. He's not stupid. Don't make the mistake of thinking he's stupid." 

"We won't." I paused. "Do you care for him, Sydney?" 

"Who? Carlos?" 

"Yeah," I clarified. 

"No!" she said a little too quickly. 

"You can tell me if you do, Sydney. It would make a difference." 

"How?" she asked, clearly suspicious. 

"How harshly we treat him. If I know you care about him, we'll just get him put away and not ... make it rougher for him than it has to be." 

"It's not that I care about him, really," she said cryptically. 

"But ..." I trailed. 

"Never mind." 

"Sydney, you need to be honest with us." 

"I don't think I can about this." 

"Why? Do you think I'll think less of you if you care about your pimp? I won't. I realize he's probably put himself in the role of your protector. I imagine he's gotten you out of jams. You have to feel you owe him for that." 

"That's not it." 

"Then what?" 

"I need to think. Let it drop for now." 

I nodded, not wanting to push her but making a mental note to have Scully drill her. She was better at getting these things out of people, particularly women. 

We arrived at Walter's townhouse and I parked in the parking area. Scully and Walter pulled in thirty seconds later and parked beside us. We got out and Scully said, "I've been talking to Walter, Mulder. What about having Sydney stay with us?" 

"What?" Sydney said, already shaking her head, 'No."" 

"She'd be safer there," Scully replied. 

I nodded. "Let's go inside and discuss this. Not out here." 

They all agreed silently and we made our way inside. As soon as the door shut behind us, and we made our way to the furniture in the living room, Sydney spun around to look at us. 

We sat and she stayed standing. We all eyed her. It was obvious she had something to say. We didn't have to wait long. 

"Look, I've gone along with everything up till now." 

"Sydney ..." Walter began. 

She held up her hand, palm out to stall whatever he was going to say. He pressed his lips together, clearly not happy about it. 

Scully interrupted, "Let her talk, Walter." 

Sydney's eyes sent a silent thank you to Scully. "There's something I've got to tell you." 

Her arms were wrapped protectively around her torso, and her toe tapped nervously on the carpet. Scully had said she was hiding something and I wondered if we were about to find out what it was. 

We all waited in silence while she cleared her throat and gathered her thoughts. "Carlos has done something for me for the past ... three years or so," she said finally. 

Scully looked at me triumphantly and I scowled at me. I hated it when she got that 'I told you so,' look on her face. 

"Most girls give up 35 or 40 percent of their take." 

Walter interrupted, "You said you give him fifty percent. I thought that was high." 

She nodded. "There's a reason for that." 

We all waited. I watched Walter's shoulders hunch with tension. He was expecting the worst. All sorts of things went through my mind. 

She made a gesture with her hands like she was cupping someone's head and Walter and I both wore expressions of confusion but I glanced at Scully and she had the look of someone that had a big light dawning on her. 

Walter noticed too. Sydney's face screwed up and silent tears fell slowly down her face. Scully whispered, "Oh my God, Sydney. You have a child, don't you?" 

She nodded, looking very fearful and I saw the color drain from Walter's face. His eyes closed slowly and he shook his head slightly as if in denial. She nodded in the affirmative and then spoke again, her voice strained and breathy, "He's five years old. I've never been able to take care of him. But Carlos' mother does. I go see him whenever I want, but Carlos takes fifteen percent of my money and gives it to his mother to take care of him. I couldn't work and take care of him too." 

We were all silent and Scully stepped forward, holding out her arms. Sydney suddenly let loose the tight rein she had on her composure. As soon as Scully touched her, she fell into her arms and sobbed. In between sobs, she gasped out, "I'm so sorry! ... I should have told you ... but I'm so scared! I can't leave him! But I can't take him... And if Carlos goes down, ... what ... what happens? I'll understand if you want to call it off. But what, what happens to my baby!??" 

Scully held her as she cried. I touched Walter's arm and indicated we should go into the kitchen. He took a step towards the women and I shook my head and whispered, "Give them a little privacy. Let Scully take this one." 

He nodded, not looking happy about it but we retreated into the bathroom. He wiped his hands over his face, taking a deep breath and muttered, "Shit." 

"Yeah, huh?" 

He looked at me and said, "I'm an idiot. I should have known." 

"Why should you have known?" 

"She has very faint stretch marks on her abdomen. But they're barely visible. She must work out and her stomach is so flat, I wondered if maybe she was heavier at one time. That can cause stretch marks too." 

I nodded. "Reasonable assumption." 

He shook his head as thought to negate my statement. "No, I should have asked, but I didn't because at the time ... I didn't care," he said softly. His voice was full of self-loathing. 

I patted him on the back and said, "Stop beating yourself up. There's a lot you two don't know about each other." I paused. "How do you feel about it?" 

"I don't know yet. But I know this. I still want her. I still want her here with me." 

"A kid changes the whole picture." 

"Yeah, it does. I never really thought about it." 

"What? Having kids?" 

"Yeah. Sharon couldn't have them, so I gave up thoughts about it long ago. I never really made it part of my reality." 

"And this one comes with five years of history." 

He nodded. "Christ, we'll have to get the kid too." 

"Let's find out more. If she still has legal custody it shouldn't be a problem." 

"You're right." 

"But do you want to deal with this, Walter? You need to be sure before we go any further." 

"I can't answer that right now." 

"Well, don't take too long to think about it. I have a feeling your decision on this determines this entire relationship. How badly do you want this? Want her?" 

He looked at me and took a deep breath. His voice was on the edge of ragged when he said, "I've never wanted anything so badly in my entire life. It's so strange, Mulder. I don't even really know her, but there's this ... pull. I can't let go. And it's not just about the sex. I can have good sex." 

"With my wife?" I asked, a teasing lilt to my voice. 

He frowned. "Mulder, please ..." 

"Sorry." 

"It's all right. I just can't joke right now, especially after what happened. I still feel guilty." 

"Don't, it was an accident. I should have been more alert and careful. I knew she could be hurt that way, but I relied too much on her to know her limits and that was my responsibility. She didn't seem to think we had to worry about it for another three months or so. I should have done more research." 

He nodded. "Well, anyway ..." 

"Yeah, forget that for now. She's fine and I'll be watching her like a hawk for the rest of her pregnancy." 

He swallowed again. "Mulder, what does ..." 

"What?" I asked, wondering at his pause. 

"What does it feel like to be in love?" 

I raised my eyebrows and chuffed in amusement. "Could you be more specific?" 

"I don't know, I guess I'm just wondering about this thing between me and Sydney." 

"Thing?" 

"You know what I mean." 

"I think I know what you're asking, Walter. But I can't answer that for you. Are you in love with her? Only you can say. What does it feel like for me?" 

He nodded in encouragement. 

"I feel like she's a part of me. When she isn't around, I don't feel whole, like there's a part of me missing. When we come together it's like we become one being, two halves of a whole. I can feel her joy, her love wash over me. It's an incredible feeling. I've never experienced it with anyone else. And I'd had my fair share of wild sex before I met Scully." 

He grinned. "I don't doubt it." 

I smiled. "But it's not about that, like you said. There is a pull; a desire to be with them all the time, yet there is a trust. I don't worry when she's away... well, not in the sense of worrying about other men. I'm totally convinced that she loves me, and only me. The jealousy is gone. We are connected and no one can tear that apart." 

"It's a truly amazing thing to watch," he said softly. 

"I think our love grew out of trust and friendship. And if you want a solid relationship, I think that's what you have to do." 

"What do you mean?" 

"I mean you need to be totally honest with her. You need to take the risk and open yourself up. Let yourself feel the feelings even if they scare the shit out of you. And you need to spend some time getting to know each other. It takes time. Rome wasn't built in a day, you know?" 

He nodded. "I've been open with her. Well, more open than I've ever been in my life. Even with Sharon, there was always a part of me that I held back." 

"Well, I don't know her that well, but I can say this; she doesn't strike me as the type of women that scares easily. If she's been on the streets for a few years, I doubt your past will intimidate her." 

"That's a plus," he said dryly. 

I smiled. "But a kid, that's a whole other ball game. It sounds like she doesn't have him living with her either, so it would be an adjustment for her too." 

"You know, when I heard Scully was pregnant, I envied you." 

"You did?" 

"Yeah, I realized you were going to have your family, the one you always wanted. And it made me see what I was missing. I want someone of my own to share my life with." 

"Well, then take the plunge. What's the worst that can happen? It doesn't work out? Oh well, you can say you tried. But you'll never know if you don't try." 

He was nodding slowly. "You're right. I want to try. I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing. But I want to try. I want her, I want a future with her and if that means a kid, which is something I might have thought about later on anyway, then so be it." 

"You sure you want her that much?" 

"Yeah, that much I'm sure about." 

I nodded and looked toward the living room. Sydney and Scully were standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Sydney's eyes were moist with unshed tears. Walter looked up when he saw the direction of my gaze. She'd obviously heard us. 

She stepped toward him tentatively and he opened his arms. She fell into them and he pulled her tight against him. He whispered, "Let's make some plans, Baby. Let's make some plans." 

**THE END.**   
  


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